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THE 



NEW ADMINISmATION; 

CONTAINING 

COMPLETE AND AUTHENTIC 

BIOGRAPHIES 

OF 

Grant and his Cabinet. 



By 
EDWAKD WINSLOW MARTIN. =^^fi^^^ 




GEORQE S. WILCOX. 

18G9. 






CONTENTS. 



PAOS 

ULYSSES S. GRANT, President of the United States 6 

SCHUYLER COLFAX, Vice-President of the United States 85 

JAMES G. BLAINE, Speaker of the House of Representatives. ... 65 

.HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State 70 

. JOHN A. RAWLINS, Secretarj' of War 8S 

-JACOB D. COX, Secretary of the Interior 93 

<3E0RGE S. BOUT WELL, Secretary of the Treasury 122 

ADOLPH E. BORIE, Secretary of the Navy 182 

JOHN A. J. CRESSWELL, Postmaster-General 138 

EBENEZER R. HOAR, Attorney-General 180 



Bntered, according to Act of CJongrese, in the ye&r 1869, 

By George S. Wiixx)x, 

tn the CleA'B office of the District Court of the United Statee for the 

Southern District of Nevr York. 



ULYSSES S. GRANT, 
President of the United States, 



So much has been written of late concerning 
the new President of the United States that 
another biography of him, however brief, seems 
superfluous. Yet the present work would be in- 
complete without some mention of him. It is not 
our intention, however, to offer the reader any- 
thing like a biography of the distinguished head 
of the nation, but merely to glance briefly at 
some of the leading events of his life, by which 
we may hope to arrive at a fair estimate of his 
character. 

Ulysses Simpson Grant was born at Point 
Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, about twenty- 
five miles above Cincinnati, on the 27th ot April, 
1822. He came of a race of soldiers, his ances- 
tors having fought bravely in the the old French 
War and the War of the Revolution. 

He was born the son of a tradesman in humble 
circumstances, and his youth was passed in a 



6 The New Administration. 

country too recently settled to possess many of 
the charms of civilization. His early life was 
Lard, practical, and unromantic, but exhibited in 
a marked degree many of the traits of energy, 
intensity of purpose, and self-reliance, for which 
his manhood has been distinguished. He was a 
stubborn, self willed child ; he has developed into 
a firm, resolute man. He was fearless and fond 
of danger in his boyish pastimes : he has shrunk 
from no peril, but has met and overcome every 
obstacle in his manhood. As a child he was 
remarkable for the readiness with whicli he de- 
Tised the means of accomplishing difficult under- 
takings ; as a man this same fertility of resource 
has won liim great and glorious victories. 

His ambition inclined him to dislike his father's 
trade, and to crave a better education than the 
country-schools in his vicinity afforded. In order 
to gratify this wish, his father procured for him 
an appointment to a cadetship at West Point. 
He entered the Academy in 1839, and remained 
there four years. 

Ho became a lieutenant of infantry in the 
regular army of the United States, in July, 1843. 



The New Administration, 7 

He was then a little over twenty-one years of 
age. For the two years immediately succeeding 
his graduation he was employed against the In- 
dians on the frontiers. He served gall intly 
through the war with Mexico, being engaged in 
every battle in that struggle except Buena Yista. 
His gallant and meritorious conduct in these 
engagements won him the brevet rank of Captain 
in 1847, and the full rank in 1853. 

At the close of the Mexican War, he was 
stationed on the frontier of British America, and 
in 1854 resigned his commission in the army, and 
removed to St. Louis, where he married Miss 
Julia Dent. Soon after this he settled on a farm 
near St. Louis, and for a few years devoted him- 
self to the business of this farm, which did not 
support him. In consequence of this he removed 
to Galena, Illinois, in 1859, and went into busi- 
ness there with his father and brother. He was 
residing there as a simple and almost obscure 
leather merchant when the attack upon Fort 
Sumter called the nation to arras. 

Had any one at that time been called upon to 
name the future hero of the great war, the man 



8 The New Administration, 

who should crush out che rebellion, and give 
peace to the land, he would have pointed to Scott, 
McClellan, McDowell, or some of the old soldiers 
whose names were on every tongue. Had he 
even so much as hinted that the obscure ex-Cap- 
tain in the West would ever attain the command 
of a brigade in the new army, he would have 
been laughed at as an idiot. Even Grant himself 
had no expectation of doing more than contrib- 
uting in a modest way to the success of the cause, 
by using his military knowledge for the purpose 
of organizing a company of volunteers. 

As soon as the news of the President's call for 
troops reached him, he determined to oifer his 
services to the Government. He said to a friend, 
"The Government educated me for the army, 
wliat I am I owe to my country. I have served 
her tlirough one war, and live or die, will serve 
her through tliis." 

He at once raised a company of volunteers and 
marched it to Springfield, where he requested the 
Governor to give liim his Captain's Commission. 
Being informed, however, that a friend desired 
the position, he generously withdrew in his favor. 



The New Administration, 9 

Being appointed Adjutant-General of the State 
of Illinois soon after this, he administered the 
affairs of his department so ably, that the Illinois 
troops were sent forward with greater prompt- 
ness and in better condition than the State au- 
thorities had ventured to hope. Says Governor 
Yates, " He was plain, very plain ; but still, sir, 
something — perhaps his plain, straightforward 
modesty and earnestness — induced me to assign 
him a desk in the Executive office. In a short 
time, I found him to be an invaluable assistant 
in my office and in that of the Adjutant-General. 
He was soon after assigned to the command of 
the six camps of instruction which had been es- 
tablished in the State." 

This quiet, humdrum life did not suit a man of 
Grant's character. He longed for activity. He 
had promptly offered his services to the Govern- 
ment, but no notice had been taken of his offer. 
In June, Governor Yates made him Colonel of 
the 21st Illinois Volunteers, and sent him to the 
field. Here his military skill made itself so con- 
spicuous that his friends easily procured him a 
commission as brigadier-general of volunteers. 



10 The Kew Administration. 

His first battle made him as many enemies as 
friends, for fully one half of the people of the 
Union soundly denounced his entire course in 
connection with the battle of Belmont. 

Fort Donnelson won him the rank of major- 
general, and showed the man in his true charac- 
ter. He had come to attack a heavy force of the 
enemy, strongly intrenched, and the gunboata 
upon which he had depended so much, were 
"worsted and made useless in their first encounter 
with the fort. Several days of heavy lighting 
had greatly exhausted his men, who were suffer- 
ing extremely from the cold, and had not dis- 
lodged the enemy from their works. The obsti- 
nacy of the defence and the crippling of the gun- 
boats had discouraged his men, and he was urged 
by Flag Officer Foote to intrench and await the 
overhauling and repairing of the gunboats. He 
was not disposed to adopt such a course, how- 
ever. He knew that his attacks had been as 
vigorous as tlie defence of the Confederates had 
been stubboin, and he was convinced that they 
were as exiiausted as his own army. Should he 
attack at once and boldly, he felt sure he could 



The JSTew Ad^ninistration, 11 

secure the victory. It required a very nice and 
evenly balanced judgment to decide upon the 
proper time for making such an attack, a judg- 
ment possessed only by trained and experienced 
commanders. Fortunately for the country, Grant 
was possessed of this quality. He made his 
attack, disheartened the enemy, and won the 
victory. 

Thus in less than a year the obscure leather 
merchant had risen to the high grade of Major- 
General in the Army of the United States, audi 
had achieved the greatest victory which had ever 
been won upon the Continent. He had won his 
honors fairly.' Political influence had done noth- 
ing for him. On the contrary, the politicians 
were at the very moment of his victory slander- 
ing him to the President, and scheming for his 
removal. He had risen by the simple force of 
his merits. lie had not schemed or intrigued for" 
his laurels. He had won them as tlie true? 
knights of old won their spurs — in the field, and 
he was fairly entitled to enjoy them. He had 
shown military knowledge and skill of a liigh 
order, and an energy, promptness, and decision 



12 The JVew Administration, 

of which even his best friends had not believed 
him capable. He had confidence in himself, how- 
ever, and in this confidence lies the secret of his 
success. 

With his major-general's commission, Grant 
T^as given command, of the District of West Ten- 
nessee. He had hardly entered upon his new 
sphere, before the terrible and bloody battle of 
Shiloh brought him again prominently before the 
public. The calm, unflinching courage, as well 
as the sound judgment which he displayed in 
that tremendiious conflict, go far to establish his 
claims to military renown. The field was not of 
his own selection, but was chosen during his ab- 
sence by the veteran General Charles F. Smith. 
fie was with another part of the army trying to 
hurry it forward when the battle began, and did 
cot reach the field until after his first lines had 
been driven in. Matters looked bad when he 
arrived, and continued to grow worse during the 
day, for the enemy had gained such advantages in 
the early part of the battle, that it was only 
with great difficulty that our ground could be 
held at all. Grant was everywhere during the 



The New Administration, 13 

day, animatiDg and encouraging his men, and at- 
tending personally to the execution of his most 
important orders. While others were despon- 
dent, he was calm and cool. His great hope was 
to hold his ground until night should put an end 
to the battle. Should he succeed in doing this, 
he meant to reorganize his columns under the 
cover of the darkness, and, with the first light 
the next morning, attack the enemy with a fury 
and determination which he felt sure would win 
success. He meant to do this whether Buell 
came up or not during tlie night. General Sher- 
man has declared that Grant at this juncture 
related to him the story of the taking of Fort 
Donnelson, and explained to him his favorite 
theory " of the mutual exhaustion of both armies 
in every great battle, when, by some vast power 
you must rouse your own, and go in to triumph. 
He thought the rebels were about in the right 
condition then, and if it were not night, should 
attack ; but gave orders that they * should he at- 
tacked at daylight.'' " * 

* Phelps' Lil'e of Grant. 



14 The New Adminisi/raticn. 

He had no idea of retreating. When General 
Buell, who reached the field in advance of his 
army, asked him, 

" What preparations have you made to secure 
your retreat, general ? " 

He replied, 

" We shall not retreat, sir." 

*' But it is possible," said Buell, **and a pru- 
dent general always provides for contingencies." 

" Well, there are the boats," said Grant. 

" The boats ! " said Buell, '' but they will not 
hold over ten thousand men, and we have thirty 
thousand." 

" Tliey will hold more than we shall retreat 
with," was the grim rejoinder. 

Grunt's favorite theory proved correct. The 
Southcin forces were gieatly exhausted and de- 
moralized by the lii-st day's hard fighting, for 
General Beauregard acknowledges that on the 
second day they " fought bravely, but with the 
want of that animation ap.d spirit which charac- 
terized them the preceding day." 

Calm, cool, collected and hopeful, the great 
soldier remained during the entire battle, and 



The New Administration. 15 

there can be no doubt that this sublime confidence 
on his part contributed in a marked degree 
towards preserving the enthusiasm and determi- 
nation of the troops. Nor was this confidence a 
mere idle feeling. It was based upon a profoand 
knowledge of his profession, of the character and 
vigor of the enemy, and received on the spot the 
cordial endorsement of General Sherman. To 
hold his ground till niglit was his determination, 
and he did hold it. The arrival of Buell with 
fresh troops made the next day's task easier, but 
there can be no doubt that Grant would have at- 
tacked at dawn the next morning, even had Bueli 
not been present, and when we consider the ex- 
tent of the discouragement and demoralization 
which General Beauregard admits prevailed in 
his army, it is not asserting too much to say that 
the attack would have been successful. 

As Commander of the Department of West 
Tennessee, the limits of which were bounded by 
the Mississippi and the Tennessee rivers. Grant 
exhibited administrative ability of the highest 
order. His rule was strict and stern, but strict- 
ness and severity were needed. So well pleased 



16 The New Administration, 

with his conduct of affairs was the Government, 
that the President extended the limits of his 
command, so as to include the State of Missis- 
sippi, in which was situated the great stronghold 
of Yicksburg, the key to the Mississipi River. 

When the Confederate leaders in the Fall of 
1862 began the execution of their brilliant plan 
for dislodging him from the territory he had occu- 
pied, he penetrated their design instantly, and 
by a series of movements, no less brilliant and 
more successful than those of the enemy, repulsed 
their attacks both at luka and Corinth, and drove 
them in disorder across the Tallahatchie. Had 
his orders been obeyed implicitly the Southern 
army opposed to him would have been captured 
or destroyed, and the way to the rear ot Yicks- 
burg have been opened. 

The country was delighted with the successes 
won by the silent soldier, but could hardly re- 
alize that the modest, unassuming, quiet man was 
really a great general. General Badeau very 
truly says : " The truth is, that Grant's extreme 
simplicity of behavior, and directness of expres- 
sion, imposed on various officials, both above and 



The New Administration. 17 

below him. They thought him a good, plain 
man, who had blundered into one or two suc- 
cesses, and who, therefore, could not be immedi- 
ately removed ; but they deemed it unnecessary 
to regard his judgment, or to count upon his 
ability. His superiors made their plans invari- 
ably without consulting him ; and his subordin- 
ates sometimes sought to carry out their own 
campaigns in opposition or indifference to his 
orders, not doubting, that, with their superior 
intelligence, they could conceive and execute 
triumphs which would excuse or even vindicate 
their course." 

His first campaign against Yicksburg was bold 
and skillful in its conception. Its failure was due 
to the treachery of the officer left in command at 
Holly Springs. By surrendering that post to the 
enemy, he exposed all Grant's communications to 
their mercy, and made it necessary for our army 
to retrace its steps. 

The reader is familiar with the long and vexa- 
tious delays of the siege of Yicksburg ; how plan 
after plan was tried only to find it a failure. He 
is also familiar with the fact that the country 



is The JVew Mministration. 

was almost unanimous in demanding the removal 
of Grant, and the appointment of another com- 
mander. Mr. Lincoln seems to have been the 
only person who appreciated him, for when urged 
to remove him, he replied that he would first 
" try him a little longer," as he " liked the 
man." 

Amidst all this clamor for removal, all the 
denunciation which was heaped upon him. Grant 
was as calm, as hopeful, as silent as ever. He 
indulged in no unseemly boasts, in no defence of 
any kind. He persevered in his undertakings, 
answering all fault-finders with the confident 
^i'A^QYium/^ I shall tahe Vichsbui^gy Even while 
his generals questioned the soundness of his 
plans they could not help being afifectcd by his 
confidence. Sherman, especially, while frankly 
condemning his commanders plan, earnestly as- 
Bured him of his warm and hearty cooperation in 
any undertaking the latter should see proper to 
venture upon. 

All the ai)provcd plans having failed. Grant 
resolved to put into execution one of his own 
conception. This was nothing more nor less than 



The New Administration, 19 

to sever his connections with his base of oper- 
ations, plunge boldly into the enemy's country, 
invest Vicksburg and open a new line of com- 
munications with his fleet. The reader well 
knows how he passed his guuboatsand transports 
by the batteries, marched his army to Hard 
Times Bend, crossed the river, and moved boldly 
upon the Southern forces, defeating and driving 
them at every step. The rapidity with which 
his movements were made, the vigor with which 
his blows were struck, and the boldness and 
brilliancy of his entire plan of operations con- 
fused and bewildered the enemy, and before they 
recovered from their surprise, he had driven 
Johnson out of Jackson, penned up Pember ton's 
beaten army in Yicksburg, and had opened a 
new and secure line of communication with the 
fleet under Admiral Porter. In eighteen days he 
had marched two hundred miles, crossed two 
rivers, fought five battles, taken six thousand live 
hundred prisoners, killed and wounded six thou- 
sand of the enemy, captured eighty-eight cannon 
of all kinds, compelled the abandonment of 
Grand Gulf, captured the Capital of Mississippi, 



20 The New Administration, 

and destroyed the railroads leading into Vicks- 
biirg. His army was firmly planted in the rear 
of the Southern stronghold, the fall of which had 
become a mere question of time. A few weeks 
later, and the city, with thirty-two thousand 
prisoners, with the arms and equipments of the 
garrison, fell into his hands. 

This magnificent capture — the greatest ever 
made in war — was due to Grant alone, and it 
more than vindicated his genius. He had con- 
ceived and carried out the movements which led 
to it, in the face of remonstrances from his supe- 
riors, and predictions of failure from his subor- 
dinates. Says General Badeau , 

" So Grant was alone. His most trusted asso- 
ciates besought him to change his plans ; while 
his superiors were astounded by his temerity, and 
strove to interfere. Soldiers of reputation, and 
civilians in high place, condemned in advance a 
campaign that seemed to them as hopeless as it 
was unprecedented. If he failed, the country 
would concur with the Government and the 
generals. Grant knew all this, and appreciated 
the danger, but was as invulnerable to the ap- 
prehensions of ambition as to the entreaties of 



The JVeto Ad7ninistration. 21 

friendship, or the anxieties even of patriotism. 
That quiet confidence which never forsook him, 
and which amounted, indeed, almost to a feeling 
of fate, was uninterrupted. Having once deter- 
mined in a matter that required irreversible 
decision, he never reversed, nor even misgave, 
but was steadily loyal to himself and his plans. 
This absolute and implicit faith was, however, 
as far as possible from conceit or enthusiasm. It 
was simply a consciousness, or conviction rather, 
which brought the very strength it believed in ; 
which was itself strength ; and which inspired 
others with a trust in him, because he was able 
thus to trust himself." 

Henceforward there could be no doubt in the 
mind of any candid person that Grant was a great 
soldier. His Vicksburg campaign was a depart- 
ure from the old principles of war, and one of 
the boldest and most brilliant evidences of his 
genius that he could have given. It showed that 
he was not only capable of organizing a great 
campaign, but that he could, move and fight his 
army rapidly and successfully, and find victory 
where others only saw danger and disaster. 



22 The JVeiD Administration. 

Well did he deserve the plaudits and blessings 
which went up from every part of the land, when 
the news came flashing over the wires that Vicks- 
burg was ours. No man was ever tried more 
severely by much praise, and none ever passed 
better through the ordeal. He had vindicated 
his own genius and won a great victory for the 
country, and he was satisfied. He exhibited no 
elation, indulged in no boasting or self-laudation. 
In the midst of his success he was more moderate 
and modest than ever, and equally as reticent. 
Instead of seeking a holiday and coming North 
to enjoy the praise he had won, he applied him- 
self at once to the administrative details of his 
department, and soon had the whole system in 
the best condition. 

Ordered to proceed to Chattanooga for the 
purpose of retrieving the disasters which had be- 
fallen Rosecrans, he hurried forward, though 
partially disabled by an accident, making dispo- 
sitions as he went for reinforcing the Army of 
the Cumberland, whose heroic commander had 
pledged himself to hold Chattanooga until con- 
quered by starvation. Having received hia 



The New Administration* 23 

orders from the Secretary of War, in person, 
and made his arrangements to bring up his re-en- 
forcements as rapidly as possible, he hurried 
forward to Chattanooga accompanied only by 
his staff. He reached the town at night, unex- 
pected and unannounced. He was cold, wet, and 
hungry, and General Thomas at first scarcely 
recognized him. 

Without the loss of a moment, he set to work 
to provide means for driving off the enemy. 
The army was near starving, and the enemy had 
closely invested our position. Bragg was confi- 
dent of success, and our own men had begun to 
despond. In a fortnight, however, the situation 
was changed. The army was re-enforced and 
well supplied ; the enemy had been driven into 
their main line on Missionary Ridge, and every- 
thing was in readiness for a bold and vigorous 
attack upon the Confederates. Instead of sub- 
mitting to a siege, as Bragg had expected, Grant 
had assumed the off'ensive, and was ready to 
crush his antagonist. The brilliant success which 
crowned his attack decided the war in the West, 
and opened the way for Sherman in the ensuing 



24 The JTew Administration. 

Spring. The immediate fruits were the relief of 
Chattanooga and Knoxville, the salvation of 
Tennessee, and the capture of six thousand prison- 
ers, seven thousand stand of arms, and fortjr 
pieces of artillery. It was pronounced by an 
eye-witness, himself an officer of merit and ex- 
perience*, the best ordered and best delivered 
battle of the war. 

The thanks of Congress, a gold medal from 
the same body, the thanks of State Legislatures^ 
and public assemblies of all kinds were showered 
upon the victor, and the whole land rang with 
his praise. All this while he was passing to and 
fro in his new Department, making himself fa- 
miliar with the country, and the wants of the 
army, and selecting the best routes for bringing 
up supplies. The snow was deeper than had 
been known for thirty years, and often the Gene- 
ral and his staff were forced to wade through 
drifts, through which their half-frozen horses 
were powerless to carry them. 

The dangerous illness of his eldest son called 

oQuartermaBter-Qeneral Meigs. 



The JSCew Administration. 25 

him away from his command for a few days. 
The citizens of St. Louis overwhehned him with 
profers of distinguislied honors, but he declined 
them all with the sintjle exception of a public 
dinner. He shrunk from display, from everything 
that savored of egotism. 

Congress conferred upon him the highest rank 
in the army — that of Lieu tenant- General — and he 
promptly repaired to Washington to receive his 
commission at the hands of the President. This 
done, he applied himself at once to the task before 
him, declining all public honors. 

Invested with the chief command of all the 
armies of the United States, he relinquished to 
Sherman the direction of affairs in the Mississippi 
Valley, and applied himself to the task of defeat- 
ing the Army of Northern Virginia, and captur- 
ing the Capital of the Southern Confederacy. He 
knew the magnitude of his task, and entered upon 
it quietly, but with energy. 

The undertaking proved more difficult than he 
had anticipated, but he clung to it with a grim 
energy and resoluteness of purpose which dis- 
heartened the enemy not a little, and encouraged 



26 The Jfew Administration, 

to a corresponding degree the people of the loyal 
States. In General Lee he had a great soldier to 
contend with, but he did not doubt his final suC' 
cess, and the sequel proved the justness of his 
convictions. He compelled the surrender of the 
Army of Northern Virginia, made a prisoner of 
the great leader of the South, and brought the 
Rebellion to a triumphant close. 

In the hour of success he was greater than ever. 
No harshness or unkindness was shown to the 
vanquished. Bad as he regarded their cause, he 
knew that his prisoners were his countrymen, and 
that they had shown courage and heroism worthy 
of the American name, and he was too true a 
soldier not to pity them in their misfortunes. So 
kindly did he deal with them that many shed tears 
when informed of his generosity. He had been 
a terrible foe, and he now proved a generous 
friend. 

Congress revived the grade of " General of the 
Army of the United States" for him, in gratitude 
for his great services. He accepted the new rank 
modestly, and administered the duties appertain- 
ing to it with vigor and ability. As time wore 



The JSTew Administration. 2T 

on the powers confided to him were increased to 
an enormous extent. They were safe in his hands, 
for he used them with a moderation and forbear- 
ance remarkable in any man. Self was left out 
of the question, and everything was done to give 
peace and restored prosperity to the country. He 
performed his labors with the same modesty and 
reticence which always distinguished him. The 
nation has sustained him in every act. He has 
won the confidence and affection of his country- 
men fairly, and they have never failed him yet. 

The Republican party, in selecting him as their 
candidate for the Presidency, but acted in accord- 
ance with the known wishes of the people of the 
Union, who regard his name as the symbol of 
order, peace, and prosperity. His election was a 
foregone conclusion from the time of his nomina 
tion. 

He has entered upon his new duties as the 
chosen head of the American nation, with the 
brightest prospects ever enjoyed by any President. 
He has the perfect confidence of the whole people. 
There may be, and doubtless will be, political 
cliques which will oppose and denounce him, but 



28 The J^ew Administration, 

he will always possess the confidence and aflfection 
of the country at large as long as he remains true 
to the principles which have guided his past life. 
Even his political opponents are prepared to 
accord him a hearty support, and a very large 
class of them are sincerely glad of his election. 
The champion of order, peace, prosperity, and 
reform, he has a future before him which he need 
not fear to tread. Millions of prayers go up daily 
for his welfare and success, and millions of hands 
are ready to co-operate with him in the good work 
before him. 

That the public confidence in him will be more 
than realized, we feel fully warranted in asserting. 
His history, from the time he dcYOted himself to 
his country's cause, is a sure guarantee for the 
future. 

A man who, amidst all praise and honors which 
have been showered upon him so lavishly, has re- 
mained so truly modest and simple, so utterly free 
from vanity or elation, who has ruled himself so 
firmly, may well be trusted to govern a nation 
with wisdom and moderation ; and one who has 
remained bo free from taint, in the midst of so 



The J^ew Administration, 29 

much corruption, may safely be relied upon to keep 
pure the fountains of our national life and pros- 
perity. 

As for the principles by which his administra- 
tion will be guided, he has himself well enunciated 
them in the following brief but explicit "In- 
augural," with which we conclude this hasty re- 
view : 

" Citizens op the United States : — Your suf- 
frages having elected me to the office of President 
of the United States, I have, in conformity with 
the constitution of our country, taken the oath of 
office prescribed therein. I have taken this oath 
without mental reservation and with the deter- 
mination to do, to the best of my ability, all that 
it requires of me. 

" The responsibilities of the position I feel, but 
accept them without fear. The office has come to 
me unsought. I commence its duties untrammelled. 
I bring to it a conscientious desire and determina- 
tion to fill it to the best of my ability to the satis- 
faction of the people. On all leading questions 
agitating the public mind I will always express 
my views to Congress and urge them according 
to my judgment, and when I think it advisable 
will exercise the constitutional privilege of inter- 



30 The JVew Administration. 

posing a veto to defeat measures which I oppose. 
But all laws will be faithfully executed, whether 
they meet my approval or not. 

" I shall on all subjects have a policy to recom- 
mend, none to enforce, against the will of the 
people. Laws are to govern all alike, those 
opposed to as well as those in favor of them. I 
know no method to secure the repeal of bad or 
obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent 
execution. 

" The country having just emerged from a great 
rebellion, many questions will come before it for 
settlement in the next four years which preceding 
administrations have never had to deal with. la 
meeting these it is desirable that they should be 
appreciated calmly, without prejudice, hate, or 
sectional pride, remembering that the greatest 
good to the greatest number is the object to be 
attained. This requires security of person, prop- 
erty and for religious and political opinion in 
every part of our common country, without regard 
to local prejudice. All laws to secure this end 
will receive my best efforts for their enforce- 
ment. 

*' A great debt has been contracted in securing 
to us and our posterity the Union. The payment 
of this, principal and interest, as well as the re- 



The New Administration, 31 

turn to specie basis as soon as it can be accomp- 
lished without material detriment to the debtor 
class or to the country at large, must be provided 
for. 

" To protect the national honor every dollar of 
the government indebtedness should be paid in 
gold, unless otherwise expressly stipulated in the 
contract. Let it be understood that no repudiator 
of one farthing of our public debt will be trusted 
in public places, and it will go far towards 
strengthening a credit which ought to be the best 
in the world, and will ultimately enable us to re- 
place the debt with bonds bearing less interest 
than we now pay. To this should be added a 
faithful collection of the revenue, a strict account- 
ability to the Treasury for every dollar collected, 
and the greatest practicable retrenchment in ex- 
penditures in every department of government. 

" When we compare the paying capacity of the 
country now, with ten States still in poverty from 
the effects of the war, but soon to emerge, I trust, 
into greater prosperity than ever before, with its 
paying capacity twenty-five years ago, and cal- 
culate what it probably will be twenty-five years 
hence, who can doubt the feasibility of paying 
every' dollar then with more ease than we now 
pay for useless luxuries ? Why, it looks as though 
Providence had bestowed upon us a strong box 



32 The ISfew Administration, 

the precious metals locked up in the sterile moun- 
tains of the far West, which we are now forging 
the key to unlock, to meet the very contingency 
that is now upon us. 

" Ultimately it may be necessary to increase the 
facilities to reach these riches, and it may be ne- 
cessary, also, that the general government should 
give its aid to secure this access. But that 
should only be when a dollar of obligation to pay 
secures precisely the same sort of dollar in use 
now, and not before. 

"While the question of specie payments is in 
abeyance the prudent business man is careful 
about contracting debts payable in the distant fu- 
ture. The nation should follow the same rule. 
A prostrate commerce is to be rebuilt, and all in- 
dustries encouraged. The young men of the 
country — those who form this age and must be 
rulers twenty-five years hence — nave a peculiar 
interest in maintaining the national honor. A 
moment's reflection upon what will be our com- 
manding influence among the nations of the earth 
in their day, if tliey are only true to themselves, 
should inspire them with national pride. All di- 
visions, geographical, political and religious, can 
join in this common sentiment. 

" IIow the public debt is to be paid or specie 



The New Administration, 33 

payments resumed is not so important as that a 
plan should be adopted and acquiesced in. A 
united determination to do is worth more than di- 
vided counsels upon the method of doing. Legis- 
lations on this subject may not be necessary now, 
nor even advisable ; but it will be when the civil 
law is more fully restored in all parts of the 
country, and trade resumes its wonted channels. 
It will be my endeavor to execute all laws in 
good faith, to collect all revenues assessed and to 
have them properly disbursed. I will, to the 
best of my ability, appoint to office only those 
who will carry out this design. 

" In regard to foreign policy I would deal 
with nations as equitable law requires individuals 
to deal with each other, and I would protect the 
law-abiding citizen, whether of native or foreign 
birth, wherever his rights are jeopardized or the 
flag of our country floats. I would respect the 
rights of all nations, demanding equal respect for 
our own. If others depart from this rule in their 
dealings with us we may be compelled to follow 
their precedent. 

*'The proper treatment of the original occupants 
of this land, the Indians, is one deserving of care- 
ful study. I will favor any course towards them 
which tends to their civilization, Christianization 
and ultimate citizenship. 



84 The New Administration, 

" The question of suffrage is one which is like- 
ly to agitate the public so long as a portion of 
the citizens of the nation are excluded from its 
privileges in any State. It seems to me very de- 
sirable that this question should be settled now, 
and I entertain the hope and express the desire 
that it may be by the ratification of the fifteenth 
amendment to the Coiistitution. 

" In conclusion, I ask patient forbearance one 
towards another throughout the land, and a de- 
termined effort on tbe part of every citizen to do 
his share towards cementing a happy Union, and 
I ask the prayers of the nation to Almighty God 
in behalf of this happy consummation." 



The JVew Administration, 35 



SCHUYLER COLFAX, 

Vice-President of the United States, 



Like his immediate superior in office, Mr. Vice- 
President Colfax has reached his high position by 
the force of his own unaided genius. 

He was born in the City of New York, on the 
23rd of March, 1823, and is consequently in his 
forty-sixth year. He comes of good stock, his 
paternal grandfather having been the commander 
of Washington's Life Guards during the Revolu- 
tion, and his grandmother, on the same side, a 
niece of General Philip Schuyler, of New York. 
His father died four months before his birth, 
leaving his mother in straightened circumstances^ 
so that the childhood of the future Vice-President 
was passed almost in poverty. 

He was sent at an early age to the grammar- 
Bchool of his district, from which he was promoted 
to the High School in Crosby street. The public 
Bchools of the Metropolis had not then attained 



36 The JVew Administration, 

the degree of excellence for which they are now 
famous, and the means of improvement held out 
by them were but limited. Nevertheless, young 
Colfax was quick to profit by them, and proved 
so bright and apt a pupil as to win the highest 
praise from his instructors. 

When he was ten years old, he was taken from 
school, his mother's means being too limited to 
continue his education. A friend received him 
into his store as a clerk, and he remained there 
three years, contributing by his slender earnings 
to the support of his widowed mother, and giving 
perfect satisfaction to his employer. At the end 
of tliat time, his mother having married a gentle- 
man named Mathews, removed with her husband 
to St. Joseph County, Indiana, and took her son 
with her. This was in 1836. Upon reaching 
Indiana, the boy obtained a clerkship in a store 
in the town of New Carlisle, and lield it until he 
had completed his seventeenth year. 

In 1840, although still a boy, he made his first 
appearance in public life. He was appointed 
Deputy-Auditor of the County, and for the better 



The JYew Administration. HY 

discharge of his duties removed to the town of 
South Bend, where he has continued to reside. 

Appreciating the fact that his advantages for 
improvement had been limited, he applied himself 
diligently during such time as he could spare 
from his ofiacial duties, to remedy the defects in 
his education. Strictly speaking, he had no leisure 
hours, for the time that others would have spent 
in recreation, he devoted to a thorough and sys- 
tematic course of study. He read law, history, 
biography, travels, everything that could add to 
his store of knowledge or improve his mind. His 
friends entertained a high opinion of his legal 
knowledge, and often consulted him upon points 
of law, in preference to applying to a regular 
practitioner. 

In 1845, when just twenty-two years old, he 
established " The St. Joseph Valley Register^' a 
weekly journal, of which he was sole editor and 
proprietor. He even learned to set type in order 
that he might work at the case, and thus diminish 
the cost of composition. The paper met with, 
and passed through, the usual difficulties and 
Ticissitudes of a country journal, but was at length 



38 The J^ew Administration. 

established on a paying basis. The office with 
all its fixtures was destroyed by lire a lew years 
after the beginning of the enterprise, but Mr. 
Colfax made good his losses, and started out with 
better prospects than before. He continued his 
connection with the paper for about twenty years, 
writing regularly for it one letter per week dur- 
ing his earlier Congressional career. Mrs. Stowe 
Bays of this paper : 

" Besides paying well, the Register^ as con" 
ducted by Mr. Colfax, is entitled to the much 
higher praise of having been a useful, interesting 
and a morally pure paper, always on the side of 
what is good and right in morals and society. It 
has been, for instance, constantly in favor of 
temperance reform; and it has always avoided 
the masses of vile detail which so many papers of 
respectable position manage to distribute in 
families under the pretence that they must give 
full news of police reports and criminal trials." 

A village debating society afforded him the 
means of becoming a proficient and ready speaker, 
and this advantage, like all the rest, was carefully 



The New Administration, SO* 

and conscientiously improved. His friend, Mr. 
John D. Defrees, now the accomplished Superin- 
tendent of the Public Printing, and thcra the pro- 
prietor of the Indianapolis Journal^ made him 
reporter of the debates of the State Senate, which 
post he held for several years. It was here that 
he laid the foundation of that intimate acquain- 
tanceship with parliamentary forms and law, 
which has made him so efficient a Speaker of the 
lower House of Congress. 

In politics he was a Whig, and he earnestly 
advocated the principles of that party in the 
columns of his newspaper, and on the stump. In 
1848 he was sent as a delegate to the National 
Whig Convention, which nominated General 
Taylor, and was chosen Secretary of tliat body. 
The county in which he resided was thoroughly 
Democratic, but so great was his personal popu- 
larity that, in 1850, he was elected, by a handsome 
majority, to a seat in the Convention which framed 
the present Constitution of the State of Indiana. 
In this body he distinguished himself by the earn- 
estness and eloquence with which he opposed the 



40 The JVew Administraiion, 

measure forbidding the settlement in the State, of 
free colored men. 

In 1851 he was nominated by his party to 
represent his district in Congress. The district 
was so strongly democratic that the election of a 
Whig seemed an impossibility. Nevertheless Mr. 
Colfax's opponent was elected by only 238 ma- 
jority in a poll of 18,474 votes. He was offered 
a renomination at the next election, but declined 
•it in consequence of his business engagements, 
and his party was defeated by over one thousand 
majority. A nomination to the State Senate, 
with a fair prospect of success, had been declined 
previous to his first Congressional campaign. He 
was a member of the National Whig Convention 
of 1852, which nominated General Scott, and 
took a prominent part in the campaign which 
resulted in the defeat of his party. 

In 1854 he was elected to C ngress by a 
majority of 1,7G6 votes over his Democratic com- 
petitor, and upon the meeting of the Thirty- 
fourth Congress in 1855, was appointed by the 
Speaker a member of the Committee on Eleo- 



The New Administration, 41 

tions. He distinguished himself in the struggle 
which preceded the election of Mr. Banks as 
Speaker, and detected and foiled two of the best 
planned and most ingenious manceuvers of the 
Democratic party to get possession of the Chair. 
During the debates on the famous Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill, Mr. Colfax was the earnest and 
fearless champion of freedom, and delivered two 
powerful speeches in behalf of the free settlers, 
and exposed and denounced the outrages practised 
upon them. So highly did the Kepublican party 
esteem his first address on this subject, that it 
was re-printed at the expense of the party, and 
circulated as a campaign document during the 
Presidential campaign of 1856. During his first 
session in Congress, Mr. Colfax took and main- 
tained a leading position in the ranks of his 
party, and gave such satisfaction to his constitu- 
ents that he was returned to the Thirty-fifth 
Congress by a majority of 1,036 over Mr. Stuart, 
Ms Democratic competitor. 

In the third session of the Thirty-fourth Con- 
gress, he delivered an able address in favor of a 
repeal of the duty on sugar. His argument was 



42 The New Administration. 

regarded as unanswerable; but the protective 
ideas of the House could not be overcome by any 
argument. 

In the case of James W. Simonton, a recusant 
witness, he protested against any violation of 
the rights of a citizen. Said he : 

" I agree with the gentleman from Maryland 
(Mr. Davis) in one thing, and that is, that the 
witness having stated that there were members 
of this house who had approached him with pro- 
positions for the sale of their votes, sheuld have 
answered the questions propounded to him by 
the Select Committee. But he is an American 
citizen. He stands here at your bar, and has the 
right before he is confined for even an hour, to 
be heard, either by himself or counsel. And I 
move to amend the resolution by striking out all 
after the word 'Eesolved, and inserting * That 
he shall have the privilege of being heard at the 
bar of this House, in person or by counsel.' " 

The reader will not forget that when a reso- 
lution was introduced into the House last year by 
General Butler, authorizing the Speaker to open 
and inspect the private correspondence of another 
recu.saiit witness, Mr. Colfax indignantly declared 
that the House had no power to authorize such 
an outrage upon the rights of any citizen. 



The New Administration, iZ 

At the opening of the Thirty-fifth Congress, 
he was appointed a member of the Committee on 
Indian Affairs. 

He favored strong and severe measures to- 
wards the people of Utah, for the purpose of 
compelling them to perform their obligations to 
the General Government ; and urged a revision 
of the neutrality laws for the purpose of vindi- 
cating the national honor by putting a stop to 
fillibustering expeditions from our shores. Said 
he: 

" Mr. Chairman — I concur with the language 
which fell from the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Cochrane) when he offered his amendment ; 
and I like that amendment because it was clear 
and decisive. It meant something. It would 
have called forth an expression of the opinion of 
the committee upon the question which is now 
agitating this entire country. But I regret that 
the gentleman should have afterwards modified 
his amendment so that it would call for no ex- 
pression of opinion whatever; and I now offer 
my amendment to the amendment, for the purpose 
of having a test vote in the committee upon the 
question whether they believe the neutrality laws 
ought to be made more rigorous and efficient, or 
not. We owe it to ourselves, and to our country's 



44 The JVew Administration. 

reputation, that we shall see that these laws shall 
not be full of loopholes and escapes, whereby 
expeditions can go from our shores under the 
disguise of agricultural expeditions and bands of 
emigrants, and that we shall never allow this 
country to be made a place where expeditions of 
a piratical character may be fitted out and pre- 
•cipitated upon other and weaker nations in our 
vicinity. I, therefore, desire to ascertain the 
sense of this committee, that a clear expression 
of their opinion may be sent to the country upon 
this important question. I desire a test vote 
upon this question." 

He warmly advocated the granting of pensions 
to the veterans of the War of 1812, and of the 
Indian wars of that period, declaring that the 
grant was " a debt of individual justice and of 
national honor. All of those men who were in 
the second war of American Independence are 
now in the evening of their days and decline of 
their lives; and the small pittance proposed by 
this bill to be given to them would assist at least 
in smoothing their passage to the grave." 

The Postal affairs of the nation received liis 
earncr^t care from the time of liis entrance into 



The JVew Administration. 45 

Congress, and he was from the lirst an uncom- 
promising enemy of the " franking swindle." 
His best eiforts were in favor of retrenchment 
and reform, and of an economical and judicious 
expenditure of the public funds. 

In 1858, he was returned to the Thirty-sixth 
Congress by a majority of 1,931 votes. 

The Thirty -sixth Congress met just after the 
John Brown affair at Harper's Ferry, and in the 
midst of the intense political excitement which 
culminated in the Rebellion. The slavery ques- 
tion was being violently agitated, and the North 
and South were arrayed against each other in a 
contest which admitted of no compromise. The 
excitement invaded both Houses of Congress, 
breaking out there first in the famous " Helper 
Book quarrel." The Republican candidate for 
Speaker, the Hon. Mr. (now Senator) Sherman, 
of Ohio, had endorsed this book, and had urged 
its general circulation in the Free States, and the 
Southern members endeavored to force upon the 
House a resolution declaring that no man who 
had endorsed the book was fit to be Speaker of 
the House. The struggle over the SpeakershiD 



46 The JVew Administration, 

was unusally exciting and protracted. It delayed 
the organization of the House several months, and 
at length resulted in a compromise, by which the 
Hon. Mr. Pennington of New Jersey, a Republi- 
can, was elected Speaker. 

Mr. Colfax took a leading part in this memor- 
able struggle, asserting and maintaining the rights 
of his party on all occasions, and dealing some of 
the hardest blows delivered from the Republican 
side of the House during the entire contest. 

Upon the organization of the House, in Febru- 
ary 1860, he was made Chairman of the Post 
Office Committee, of the House ; for which posi- 
tion he was eminently qualified by reason of his 
great knowledge of the affairs and wants of that 
department. As Chairman of that Coramittee, ho 
either originated or procured the adoption of 
many of the most important features of our pre- 
sent postal system. He secured to the Pacific 
Coast and the Western Territories that splendid 
overland mail system, which is the pride and 
boast of the far West. He was the firm and con- 
stant friend of the Great Pacific Railway. He 
procurod the establishment of post offices and 



The JYew Administration. 47 

mail routes in the Territories, knowing that there 
was no surer way of encouraging emigration 
thither. He introduced reforms into the ocean 
mail service. He procured the passage of the 
law allowing publishers of newspapers and peri- 
odcials to in form their patrons of the expirations 
of their subscriptions by a printed notice on the 
wrapper. He reformed the drop letter system^ 
introduced the bill allowing the return of uncall- 
ed-for letters to the writer thereof after a given 
time — a measure which has done much to faciltiate 
the business of the country. The telegraph to the 
Pacific received his warm support, and everything 
in his power was done to bring the Western 
Coast into more intimate relations with the At- 
lantic States. He embarked heartily in the 
Presidential Campaign of 1860, advocating with 
his pen and voice the election of Mr. Lincoln. 
He had the satisfaction of seeing his State car- 
ried by the Republican party by a majority of six 
thousand. During this same campaign, he was 
re-elected to Congress, for a fourth term, by a ma- 
jority of 3,402 votes. 

The second session of the Thirty-sixth Congress 



48 The JVew Mministration. 

was that which immediately preceeded the War, 
Mr. Colfax, as Chairman of the Post Office Com- 
mittee, introduced a bill in January 1861, to dis- 
continue the mails in the States which had se- 
ceeded from the Union. The measure was op- 
posed by the Southern Congressmen, who still 
held their seats, and was defeated for the time. 
There can be no doubt that Mr. Colfax was 
right in proposing the measure, for the sudden 
discontinuance of all postal facilities in the re- 
volted States would have occasioned an immense 
amount of dissatisfaction and confusion in those 
States, and have done much to induce the people 
thereof to return to their allegiance to the Gen- 
eral Government. 

A strong eff'ort was made to induce Mr. Lin- 
coln to give Mr. Colfax a place in his first Cabi- 
net, as Postmaster General. Being a warm 
personal friend of Mr. Colfax, the President 
would have made the appointment cheerfully, but 
for the fact that the Secretary of the Interior had 
already been chosen from Indiana. 

In the Tliirty-seventh Congress, Mr. Colfax 
was re-appointed Chairman of the Post OfiBce 



The New Jldministration. 49 

Committee. From thi-s time, throughout the 
whole period of the Rebellion, he exerted himself 
actively in behalf of all measures calculated to 
strengthen the hands of the Government against 
the public enemy. He was heart and soul for the 
restoration of the Union, and was quick to per- 
ceive that no half-way measures would accomplish 
that result. 

The Array received his especial care. Appre- 
ciating the anxiety which those at home would 
feel to hear from their friends and relatives at the 
front, and knowing that the troops would rarely 
be in possession of surplus money, he introduced 
and procured the passage of a law, allowing sol" 
diers in the army to send their letters through 
the mails without pre-paying the postage, which 
was to be collected at the point of destination. 
Soon after this, he procured the passage of 
another law, requiring that all pro-paid letters to 
Boldiers in any regiment in the service of the 
Union, and directed to a \K)\nt where they had 
been stationed, should be forwarded, whenever 
practicable, to anv other point to which they 



50 The New Administration, 

might have been ordered, without additional 

postage. 

His eulogy upon the heroic Baker, elicited uni- 
versal admiration, being considered one of the 
finest efforts ever listened to in the House. 

In the fall of 1862 he was re-elected to Con- 
gress, as the champion of the Administration 
and its measures. The Government was then in 
the midst of its heaviest reverses, and the confi- 
dence of the country in the ability of the Admin- 
istration was sorely shaken. It was conceded by 
all that no other man but Mr. Colfax could pos- 
sibly be returned from his district, in which con- 
siderable disaffection existed. The election was 
close and exciting, and Mr. Colfax was returned 
by a majority of 249 votes. The victory was de- 
Kjisive, under the circumstances, and a striking 
proof of the great confidence reposed in their rep- 
resentative by the people of the district. 

Although a jealous foe to any infringement of 
the personal rights or liberties of the citizen, he 
advocated the bill to indemnify the President, and 
those acting under his orders for the suspension 
of the habeas corpus, and acts done in pursuance 



The JSTew Mministration. 51 

ol the same. He knew the President intimately, 
and had confidence that he would not abuse the 
extraordinary powers he had assumed — the firm 
exercise of which Mr. Colfax was persuaded was 
necessary to the salvation of the country. 

He favored the admission of West Virginia in- 
to the Union, as a State, and voted for the bill to 
that efi'ect. 

In January, 1863, he reported a bill authoriz- 
ing the Postmaster General to allow the trans- 
portation through the mails, at book postage 
rates, of small packages, not exceeding four 
pounds in weight, sent by persons in the loyal 
States, to their relatives and friends in the Army 
and Navy. 

He inaugurated measures making the rates of 
postage uniform all over the country, and giving 
postmasters fixed salaries instead of fluctuating 
commissions. He procured the introduction of 
the free carrier system, and introduced several 
other important and useful reforms. 

Upon the meeting of the Thirty-eighth Con- 
gress, in December, 1863, he was chosen Speaker 
of the House of Representatives, a graceful and 



52 The Mw Administration. 

fitting recognition by that body of his eminent 
services. Being charged with the duty of presi- 
ding over the deliberations of the House, he was 
not connected with any special measure during 
this Session ; but his influence, which was great, 
was always exerted in behalf of the measures of 
the Government. 

In the Fall of 1864, he was returned to the 
Thirty-ninth Congress by a majority of 1,680. 
During this campaign he exerted himself warmly 
in favor of the re-election of Mr. Lincoln, and 
had the satisfaction of witnessing the splendid 
triumph of his party in Nong nber of that year. 

His course as Speaker of the House, during the 
Sessions of the Thirty-eighth Congress, won him 
the hearty approval of both the Republicans and 
Democrats in that body and the warmest tribute 
to him at tlie close of the Second Ses:*ion came 
from the brilliant Democratic orator, Mr. S. S. 
Cox, then of Ohio, but now of New York. 

It was his sad privilege to receive the last 
farewell the Martyr Prcdidcnt ever spoke on 
earth, and to stand by his deatli bed, and to 
watch tlie grandly-nimple Boul of the great man 
go out into eternity 



The JSTew Mministration, 53 

The last sad rites paid to his dead friend and 
chief, he turned his face westward. It had been 
his desire for a long time to visit the far West 
and the Pacific Coast, and see for himself that 
great and growing country, in whose behalf he 
liad labored so faithfully. His journey across 
the Continent was one continuous ovation. 
Everywhere he was received with demonstrations 
of the profoundest respect and the warmest friend- 
ship. His expectations of the importance and re- 
sources of this portion of the country were more 
than realized, and the knowledge gained by him 
in this journey will prove of the greatest benefit 
to the far West. He passed over the plains, 
along the great overland route, visited the towns 
and cities of the distant territories and of the 
Pacific States ; inspected the mines, railroads and ■"^^'^'' 

internal improvements in that section, and came 
home better prepared than ever before, to act in '^^ 
behalf of this growing and enterprising portion 
of the Union. 

Upon his return from the Pacific Coast, Mr. 
Colfax repaired to Washington to take his seat 
in the Thirty-ninth Congress, of which body he 



54 The New Administration, 

was elected Speaker. He presided over the 
stormy deliberations of that memorable session, 
which marked the commencement of the unhappy 
quarrel between the President and Congress, and 
from which the country has suffered so much. 
He was a warm advocate of the second Freed - 
man's Bureau Bill, the Civil Rights Bill, the 
Tenure of OflSce Act, and all the Reconstruction 
measures of Congress. He endorsed the pro- 
ceedings which resulted in the impeachment of 
President Johnson, the last step being one of 
which he, in connection with the Republican 
party, heartily approved of. 

In the fall of 1866, he was re-elected to Con- 
gress by a majority of 2,148 votes. He was 
elected Speaker of the Fortieth Congress— this 
being the third time he was chosen to that ele- 
vated position. His conduct as presiding officer 
of the House during the six years of his Speak- 
ership is the source of the most earnest satisfac- 
tion to his friends. He presided over the stormy 
sessions of that body with a grace and dignity 
which won him the admiration of all his asso- 
ciates, and with a faiiness which elicited the 



The JVew Administration. 55 

praise of men his political opponents. He has 
been well termed " the most popular Speaker 
since the days of Henry Clay." 

The National Convention of the Union Repub- 
lican Party, met at Chicago on the 20th of May, 
1868, and after nominating General Grant as 
their candidate for the Presidency, conferred 
upon Mr. Colfax their nomination for the Vice- 
Presidency. He was chosen amidst a storm of 
enthusiasm which showed that his friends had not 
miscalculated his strength. The news of his 
nomination was at once telegraphed to him at 
Washington. The news found him in the Speak- 
er's Room at the Capitol. 

" On the receipt of this dispatch," says a cor- 
respondent of the Trifmne, '^ the room rang with 
cheers, which were again and again repeated. 
Mr. Colfax was congratulated by the entire com- 
pany, and the scene thereafter may be imagined. 
Telegrams now came pouring in on him from all 
quarters, which it was utterly impossible to an- 
swer. The room was thronged with visitors, all 
eager to sliake his hand, and at one time it 
looked as though escape from his thousand ad- 



56 The I^ew AdmhiistrcUion. 

mirers was an uttor impossibility. Demo- 
crats and Republicans, Wade men and Wilson 
men, all beset him, and the expression of 
hearty good wishes and good will has been 
seldom equalled. As he was leaving the room 
the employees of the Capitol gathered around 
him in the most affectionate manner and tendered 
him their regards. Walking through the Capitol 
grounds, he was stopped by citizens who had 
never spoken to him before, but to whom his 
features were familiar, and they rushed up to him 
and shook him by the hand. His progress up 
the Avenue was indeed an ovation. No man has 
recently been the recipient of more hearty and 
soul-felt good wishes than the next Vice-President 
of this Republic. The choice of the Convention 
for the first and second positions in the gift of 
the people, was everywhere approved by Republi- 
cans, and even Democrats conceded the wisdom 
of the nominations. 

Mr. Colfax took an active part in the Presi- 
dential campaign, working hard for the success of 
the Republican ticket. The result of the strug- 
gle is well known to tlie reader. " Grant and 



The J\rew Administraticm. 67 

€olfax " were elected President and Vice-Presi- 
dent by handsome majorities, and the principles 
of the Republican party were a third time en- 
dorsed by the people of the country at large. 

During the Fall of 1868, Mr. Colfax was mar- 
ried to Miss Nellie Wade, of Ohio, a neice of 
Senator Wade of that State. 

He continued to preside over the deliberations 
of the House during the second session of the 
Fortieth Congress, rendering good service to the 
country and to his party during that time. Not 
the least of these services was the firm and de- 
termined manner with which he put down the 
disturbance created by General Butler and others, 
during the official counting of the Electoral 
Votes of the States, in the joint Convention of 
the two Houses of Congress, in February last. 

On the morning of the 3d of March, he called 
Mr. Wilson, of Iowa, to the Chair, and requested 
him to preside over the House until the election 
of his successor. Then turning to the House, he 
announced his resignation of the Speakership, ac- 
companying it with the following eloquent and 
appropriate remarks : 



58 The New Adminiatration, 

" Gentlemen : The opening of the legislative 
day, at the close of which I must enter upon 
another sphere of duty, requires me to tender to 
you this resignation of the office which by your 
kindness and confidence I have held ; to take ef- 
fect on the election of a Speaker for the brief 
remainder of this session. The parting word, 
amongst friends about to separate, is always a re- 
gretful one ; but the farewell which takes me 
from this hall, in which so many years have been 
spent, excites in me emotions which it would be 
useless to attempt to conceal. The fourteen 
years during which I have been associated with 
the representatives of the people here, have been 
full of eventful legislation, of exciting issues, and 
of grave decisions, vitally affecting the entire 
republic. All these with the accompanying 
scenes, which so often reproduced in this arena 
of debate, the warmth of feeling of our antago- 
nizing constituencies, have passed into the domain 
of history. And I but refer to tliem to express 
the joy which, apparently, is shared by the mass 
of our countrymen, that the storm cloud of war, 
which has so long darkened our national horizon, 
at last passed away, leaving our imperilled Union 
saved, and that by the decree of the people more 
pov/erful than President", or Congresses, or ar- 
mies, liberty was proclaimed throughout the 



The Mew Administration. 59 

lawd to all the inhabitants thereof. But I can- 
not leave you without one word of rejoicing over 
the present condition of our republic amongst 
the nations of the earth, with our military 
power and almost illimitable resources, exempli- 
fied by the war that developed them ; with our 
rapidly augmenting population, and the welcome 
to our gates to the oppressed of all climes ; with 
our vast and increasing agricultural, mechanical, 
manufacturing, and mineral capacities ; with our 
vantage on the two great oceans of the globe, 
and our almost completed Pacific Railroad uni- 
ting these opposite shores and becoming the 
highway ; the United States of America com- 
mands that respect among the powers of the 
world which insures the maintenance of all its 
national rights and the security of all its citizens 
from oppression or injustice abroad. Nor is 
this all. The triumphal progress of freeinstitu^ 
lions here has had its potential influence beyond 
the sea. The right of the people to govern, 
based on the saci ed principle of our revolution,, 
that all governments derive their just powers 
from the consent of the governed, is everywhere 
advancing, but with slow and measured steps, but 
with a rapidity that within a few years has been 
so signally illustrated in Great Britain, Spain, 
Italy, Prussia, Hungary, and other lands. May 



60 TJie JVew Administration* 

we not hope that bj the moral but powerful 
force of our example, fetters may everywhere be 
broken, and that some of us may live to see that 
happy era when slavery and tyranny shall no 
more be known throughout the world, from the 
rivers to the end of the earth ? I cannot claim 
that, in the share I have had in the deliberations 
and the legislation of this House, as a member 
und an officer, I have always done that which was 
wisest and best, in word and act ; for none of us 
are infallible. But that I have striven to per- 
form, faithfully, every duty, and that, devoted 
as all know, to principles that I have deemed 
correct, the honor and glory of our country have 
always been paramount and above all party ties, 
I can conscientiously assert. And that I have 
sought to mitigate, rather than to intensify, the 
asperities which the collision of opposing parties 
so often evoke, must be left to my fellow-members 
to verify. In the responsible duties of the last 
six years, I have endeavored to administer the 
rules you have enacted 'or your guidance both in 
letlei" and in spirit, with an impartiality uninflu- 
enced by political associations or antagonisms. 
And I may be pardoned for the expression of 
gratification that, while no decision has been re- 
versed, there has been no appeal, sometimes ta- 
ken as they are by a minority as a protest against 



tihe j^e:'j Administration, . 61 

i\^ power under the rales of a majority, which 
hi\s ever been decided by a strict party vote If, 
in the quickness with which a presiding officer 
here is often compelled to rule hour after hour 
on parliamentary points, and in the performance 
of his duty, to protect all members in their rights 
to advance the progress of the public business, 
and to preserve order, any word has fallen from 
my lips that has justly wounded any one, I de- 
sire to withdraw it unreservedly. I leave this 
hall with no feeling of unkindness to any member 
with whom I have been associated in all the years 
of the past, having earnestly tried to practice 
that lesson of life which commands us to write 
'our enmities on the sand, but to engrave our 
friendships* on the granite. But the last word 
cannot longer be delayed. I bid farewell to the 
faithful and confiding constituency whose affea- 
tionate regard has sustained and encompassed me 
through all the years of my public life ; farewell 
to the hall which in its excitements and restless 
activities so often seemed to represent the throb- 
bings and the intense feelings of the nation's 
hearty and finally, fellow-members and friends, 
with sincere gratitude for the generous support 
you have always given me in the diiferent and 
oft^n complex duties of the chair, and with the 



62 The JVew Administration. 

warmest wishes for your health, happiness and 
prosperity, one and all, I bid you farewell." 

This address was greeted with warm applause 
from the members on ihe floor, and i'rom the vast 
audience in the galleries. At its conclusion Mr. 
Colfax retired to the floor of the House. Mr. 
Woodward, of Pennsylvania, one of the leaders 
of the Democratic party, immediately arose, and 
offer.. d the following resolution, which was warm- 
ly endorsed by the political opponents of the 
Yice-Presidciit elect, as well as by his friends. 

" Resolvtd, That the retirement of the Hon. 
Schu} ler Colfax from the Speaker's chair, after a 
long and faithful discharge of its duties, is an 
event in our current history which would cause 
general regret were it not tliat the country is to 
have the benefit of his matured talents and ex- 
perience in the higher sphere of duty to which 
he has been called by a majority of his country- 
men. In parting from our distinguished Speaker, 
the House records with becoming sensibility ita 
high appreciation of his skill in parliamentary 
law, of his promptness of administering the rules 
and facilitating the business of the body ; of his 
urbane ntaniicrs, and of the dignity and impar- 
tiality with which he has presided over the delib- 



The New Administration^ 63 

erations of the House. He will carry with him 
into his new field of duty and throughout life the 
kind regards of every member of this Congress." 

The resolution was put to the vote, and carried 
unanimously. An engrossed copy of it, to be 
signed by the officers of the House, was ordered 
to be communicated to Mr. Colfax. 

On the morning of the 4th of March, Mr. 
Colfax entered the Senate Chamber, which was 
filled to overflowing with a brilliant and distin- 
guished throng, and iu the presence of this au- 
dience, took the oath of office at the hands of 
acting Vice-President Wade, and entered upon 
his new duties. He delivered the following brief 
address upon this occasion : 

** Senators : In entering upon the duties in 
this cham))er, to the performance of which I have 
been called by the people of the United States, 
I realize fully the delicacy as well as the respon- 
Bibilities of the position. Presiding over a body 
whose members are in so large a degree my 
seniors in age, and not chosen by the body itself, 
I shall certainly need the assistance of your sup- 
port and your generous forbearance and confi- 
dence. But, pledging to you all a faithful and 



64 The JVew Administration, 

inflexible impartiality in the administration of 
your rules, and earnestly desiring to co operate 
with you in making the deliberations of the Sen- 
ate worthy not only of its historical renown, but 
also of the States whose commissions you hold. 
I am now ready to take the oath of office re- 
quired by law." 

Mr. Colfax is still in his forty-sixth year, and 
is in the full vigor of his manhood. He is a 
man of fine attainments and considerable elo- 
quence. He is about five feet six inches high, 
and is inclined to be stout. His brown hair is 
beginning to show silver streaks — the marks of 
care and intellectual exertion. He has an ami- 
able, pleasant face, the expression of which indi- 
cates considerable firmness of character. He is 
quick and energetic in his movements, and an 
untiring worker. He is rarely idle, his time 
being devoted almost entirely to public business. 
He is polite and kind to all, and deservedly 
popular with all classes. 

He is a fit associate in the Government of this 
great country, for the man upon whom the nation 
has conferred the highest office in its gift. 



The JYew Administration, 65 



JAMES G. BLAINE, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives, 



James Gillespie Blaine, was born iu Wash» 
ington County, Pennsylvania, in 1830, and is 
consequently less than thirty-nine years old. He 
received a fair education in the common schools 
of his native county, and at the age of seventeen 
graduated at Washington College, one of the 
finest institutions of Western Pennsylvania. 

Soon after graduating he removed to the State 
of Maine, and entered upon the profession of a 
journalist. He labored faithfully to win distinc- 
tion in the iield upon which he had entered, and, 
in the course of a few years, became the editor of 
the Kennebec Journal^ which post he held for 
several years. He then became the editor of the 
Portland Advertiser^ in which position he con- 
tinued four or five years. He was a thorough 
master of his profession, an able and accom- 



60 The JVew Administration, 

plished writer, and won a high reputation by the 
skillful manner in which he conducted these influ- 
ential journals. 

The position of editor of a first class newspaper 
being one which requires considerable political 
ability, and an intimate knowledge of parties and 
party measures, as well as of the history and gen- 
eral wants of the Union, is usually in this country 
made the stepping-stone to higher positions in 
public life. That no better school could be had 
is shown by the number of able and accomplished 
men which the press has contributed to the service 
of the Republic. 

Mr. Blaine followed the general rule, and 
stepped from his editorial chair to a seat in the 
lower house of the Legislature of Maine. He 
served in the Assembly four years, exhibiting 
high qualities as a statesman, and winning a fine 
reputation. At the commencement of his tliird 
year in that body, he was elected Speaker of the 
lower House, by a handsome majority, and held 
this position for two years. 

He identified himself with the Republican party 
at the outset, and rendered good service in its 



The JVew Administration. 67 

behalf both with his pen and by his eloquent 
and stirring addresses. When the Rebellion 
broke out, he was one of the first to urge upon 
the Government a firm and vigorous policy in 
dealing with the revolted States, and exerted 
himself actively to promote volunteering in his 
own State. 

In 1862 he was elected to the Congress of the 
United States as an administration candidate, and 
at once took a prominent rank in the House aa 
one of the best men in the Republican party. He 
gave a vigorous support to the members of the 
Government for the prosecution of the War, and 
repeatedly urged upon his constituents at home 
the duty of putting away for the time all side 
issues, and giving their cordial co-operatioa ta 
the great task of restoring the Union. 

In .1 864 he was re elected to Congress, and 
again in 1866, and in 1868. He took a promin- 
ent part in the Reconstruction measures of Con- 
gress, and was the author of the provision which 
offered to any State of the South a full restora- 
tion to its former rights and privileges upon the 



68 The JVew Administration. 

ratification bj it of the Constitutional Amend- 
ment. 

During the Presidential campaign of 1868, he 
was particularly active in behalf of the nomina- 
tions of his party, speaking often and eloquently, 
and using every means in his power to bring 
about the triumph of the Republican ticket. His 
labors were crowned with success, and he had the 
satisfaction of seeing his State carried for Grant 
and Colfax by a majority of over twenty-eight 
thousand. At the same time he was re-elected to 
his seat in Congress by three thousand three hun- 
dred and fortyrsix majority! 

The brilliant reputation won by Mr. Blaine 
during the. six years of his connection with the 
House, marked him as the most fitting successor 
of Mr. Colfax in the Speakership, and early in 
the last Session of the Fortieth Congress, his 
friends began to advocate his claims. Mr. Dawes, 
of Massachusetts, was also mentioned for the same 
position, and for awhile the votes of the Republi- 
can members were divided between these two 
gentlemen, either of whom was eminently quali- 
fied for the post. Towards the close of the 



The I^ew Administration. 69^ 

fiion, however, Mr. Dawes withdrew in favor of 
Mr. Blaine, and that gentleman soon after received 
the Republican nomination in Caucus. 

Of course this nomination was really equivalent 
to an election, for the Republican party held the 
power in their own hands : but on the morning 
of the fourth of March a formal election for 
Speaker was held at tho opening of the Forty- 
first Congress. Mr. Washburne, of Illinois, 
nominated Mr. Blaine, as the candidate of the 
Republican party, and Mr. Randall, of Pennsyl- 
vania, nominated Mr. Korr, of Indiana, as the 
choice^of the Democratic members of the House. 
The roll was called, and with the following result : 
Mr. Blaine received one hundred a,nd thirty-six 
votes, and Mr. Kerr fifty-seven votes. The Clerk 
thereupon declared Mr. Blaine elected Speaker of 
the House of Representatives for the Forty-first 
Congress. He was then conducted to the Chair, 
and the business of the House began. 



"Tt) Th^ New Administration, 



HAMILTON FISH, 

Secretary of State, 



Hamilton Fish is a member of one of the 
oldest and most honored families of the Empire 
State. He was born in the City of New York 
in 1809, and is consequently about sixty years 
old at present. 

His father was Lieutenant-Colonel Nicholas 
Fish, who served gallantly through the War of 
the Revolution, and was an intimate friend of 
Washington and Alexander Hamilton, after the 
latter of whom the subject of this sketch was 
named. He married Elizabeth Stuyvesant, the 
daughter of Petrus Stuyvesant, the heir and a 
lenial descendant of the famous Dutch Governor 
of that name. Fort Fish, one of the defences 
built by the Americans during the Revolution, on 
that part of the island now included in the 
Central Park, was named after him. He lived 



The JVew Administration. 71 

a short distance out of the city, and his residence, 
in which the present Secretary of State was born, 
is still standing. It is now located on Stuyvesant 
street. 

Young Fish was educated at the best schools 
in the city, and passed through Columbia college 
with distinction, graduating at that institution 
with high honors. He studied law, after leaving 
college, and in 1830 was admitted to tlie bar in 
his native city. He did not practice his profes- 
sion long, however, as the management of the 
large estate which he inherited from his father 
occupied the greater part of his time and atten- 
tion, and finally induced him to relinquish his 
practice altogether. Being very wealthy, and 
having no occasion to work for a livelihood, Mr. 
Fish devoted himself to the task of improving his 
natural gifts by reading and study. 

In politics he was a Whig of the most ardent 
school, but for some years took no active part in 
public affairs. In 1834, however, he made his 
first appearance in politics as a candidate on the 
Whig ticket for the Assembly. He entered into 



72 The Kew Administration," 

the contest with spirit, but was defeated, with 
his associates. 

In 1842 he was nominated by the Whigs as 
their candidate for Kepresentative in Congress 
from the Sixth District, which was then comprised 
of the Eleventh, Twelfth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, 
and Seventh Wards of the City of New York. 
This district was strongly Democratic, and in 
1840 had been carried for Martin Van Buren by 
nearly one thousand majority, and it seemed ab- 
surd for the Whigs to hope to carry it. Nothing' 
dismayed, however, they entered warmly into the 
contest, which was heated and exciting, and suc- 
ceeded in electing Mr. Fish by 205 majority, the 
vote standing as follows : Fish --(Whig) 5,904, 
McKean (Democrat) 5,699. 

Mr, Fish won a fine reputation in Congress as 
an earnest and forcible speaker, and a man of 
Bolid and practical attainments. He made many 
friends, and succeeded in establishing a founda- 
tion upon which his friends hoped to see him 
build a fame worthy of the race from which he 
came — an expectation which has not been disap- 
Dointed 



The JSTew Administration. 73 

In 1844, in spite ol the good name he had won 
in Congress, and the services he had rendered his 
party, the Whigs of his district ignored his claims 
for a re- nomination, and selected Mr. William W. 
Campbell, the Know Nothing, or Native Ameri- 
can Candidate, for their suffrages. In conse- 
quence of this desertion Mr. Fish was urged by 
his friends to enter the contest as an Independent 
candidate. He did so, but was defeated by a 
very large majority. 

For the next two years he took no active part 
in politics, but remained a keen and intelligent 
observer of the events transpiring in the country. 
In 1846 he was nominated by his party for the 
post of Lieutenant-Goverror of the State. He 
was badly beaten in this contest, running heavily 
behind his ticket, in spite of the fact that the 
Whig candidate for Governor was elected by a 
majority of over eleven thousand. He was not 
disheartened by this failure, however, but in 1847, 
was again a candidate for the same office — a 
vacancy having been created in it by the resigna- 
tion of Lieutenant-Governor Gardiner. This 



74 The New Administration. 

time he was successful, and was elected by a 
majority of 30,000. 

In 1848 he was the candidate of the Whigs for 
Governor of New York, and alter a warm and 
memorable contest was elected. The reader will 
remember that the Presidential election occurred 
at the same time, and the fight in the State was 
upon both local and national issues The Demo- 
cratic party in New York had been split into two 
wings or factions, one of which put forth Reuben 
H. Walworth as its candidate for the Governor, 
and the other John A Dix. This split in the 
ranks of the Democracy enabled the Whigs to 
carry the State for General Taylor, and also to 
elect Mr. Fish, Governor. Mr. Fish's administra- 
tion was eminently successful, and established the 
fame of which he had laid the foundation in the 
lower House of Congress. 

In 1857 he was chosen United States Senator 
by the Legislature of New York, and served his 
full term in the Senate. He was closely identi- 
fied with all the prominent measures of his party, 
and was an ardent advocate of the old Whig 
doctrine of protection to American industry. 



The JVew Administration, 75 

He retired at the close of his term, leaving be- 
hind him a fine reputation, and many friends, 
who had been drawn to him by his high qualities 
of head and heart. 

After leaving the Senate, Governor Fish re- 
tired to private life, declining to take any further 
active share in politics. He was satisfied with 
the part he had already played, and was anxious 
to devote the remainder of his life to his private 
affairs. He travelled extensively in various 
parts of the world, and was a careful and 
thoughtful observer cf the political systems and 
people of the old world. He also devoted much 
time to travelling through the United States, and 
observing the growth and prosperity of the vari- 
ous parts of the country, and informing himself 
in all things relating to them. He has been a 
close student all his life, and has acquired a vast 
fund of knowledge, which, added to his great ex- 
perience, has made him one of the most cultivated 
and best informed men of the country. 

When the Republican party was organized, 
Governor Fish became one of its supporters. 
Since then he has generally voted with it, though 



T6 The New Administration. 

he has sometimes cast his ballot for a Democrat, 
He has never been a partisan, but has set hi& 
countrymen the good example of exercising his 
right of suffrage thoughtfully and conscientiously, 
voting with his party only when its candidates 
and measures were such as to meet with the 
approval of his judgment. It would be well for 
the Eepublic if his independence of thought and 
action were more generally shared by his country- 
men of all parties. He possesses a calm and 
evenly-balanced judgment, which is not apt to 
load him astray in public affairs, and has always 
been regarded as one of the most thoroughly con- 
scientious statesmen in the land. 

Governor Fish has generally sympathized with 
the Kepublican party in its aims, and lias en- 
dorsed the greater part of its measures. He has 
been eminently conservative, however, and has 
discouraged ralher than promoted party violence. 
Be gave a warm and active support to the mea- 
sures of the Administration duiiiig the war, and 
all measures calculated to bring about a peaceful 
end of the struggle found him a ready and gener- 
ous advocate. During the quarrel between the 



The Neio Administration. 77 

Congress and President Johnson, he sympathized 
-with the former, but set a good example in re- 
fraining from any attack on the latter. His ex- 
perience taught him the folly and danger of the 
bitter course indulged in by the partisans of 
Congress, that they could not succeed in their 
efforts to degrade the man without dragging the 
office in the mud, and weakening much of its 
moral force. He was a member of the ^* Stewart 
Committee," of New York city, and engaged 
heartily in the efforts to secure the election of 
General Grant, for whom he had long since con- 
ceived a high admiration and sincere friendship. 

During the recent speculations as to the prob- 
able cabinet ministers of President Grant, public 
opinion was prompt to assign him a position in 
that august body, both by reason of his eminent 
fitness for some such office, and the friendship 
existing between Grant and himself, It was 
generally believed that he would be made Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, but in view of the many 
questions at issue between the United States and 
foreign powers, there can be no doubt that he 
lias been assigned the post for which he is best 



78 The New Administration, 

swited, and ia which the country can be most 
benefited by his acknowledged abilities. 

Governor Fish is a man of great wealth, and of 
irreproachable character. His large experience 
of American politics, and his intimate knowledge 
of the affairs of the leading Powers of the Old 
World, make him a fitting head for the State 
Department. 

At present, he is the President of the Board of 
Trustees of Columbia College, one of the Trus- 
tees of the Astor Library, Vice-President of the 
consolidated railroads from New York to Phila- 
delphia, and holds other prominent positions of 
honor and trust. 

In a recent issue, the New York Worlds thus 
Bums up his character — an estimate all the more 
complimentary to him since it is the frank tribute 
of a political opponent : 

"Hamilton Fish, the Secretary of State, may 
not be a very great, or a very brilliant statesman ; 
but he is, beyond all controversy, one of the 
most estimable, most judicious, most upright, and 
most respected citizens of this State or of this 
country. A gentleman who has enjoyed the 
advantages of hereditary wealth ; of superior cul- 



The JVew Administration. 79 

ture ; in the full vigor of ripe faculties ; of varied 
official experience ; great social consideration ; 
an example or all private virtues, — he has long 
possessed, what is better than the fame of a great 
statesman, in a life so unblemished, a deportment 
so quiet and unostentatious, a weight and credit 
in the management of educational, religious, and 
charitable institutions which so commend him to 
general esteem, as to place him by universal con- 
sent in the very first rank of good citizens. 
Christian gentlemen, and exemplars of the kindly 
domestic virtues. Returning to public life with 
a character which disarms criticism and extorts 
the respectful homage of those who differ from 
him in politics, and with an exhaustless fund of 
good will to draw upon, he is secure of more 
indulgence than he is ever likely to need in a posi- 
tion which he has not sought, and for which he 
possesses some qualifications of a very high 
order. 

" First in the list of these, we unhesitatingly 
place the moral elevation which lifts him above 
the danger of that mental distortion which would 
seek, or submit to, anything but justice in our 
transactions with foreign nations. There will be 
no over-reaching diplomacy or crooked politics 
in Mr. Fish's management of our foreign affairs ; 



80 The JYew Administration, 

and the spirit of candor and justice which he will 
bring into all his duties will probably save him 
from embarrassing entanglements requiring any 
cunning and dexterity to untie. He has never 
displayed any surprising fetches of ingenuity, be- 
cause a man of his character never has any 
occasion for them ; nor will the nation have any 
occasion for them, if he is permitted to have his 
own way in the management of our foreign inter- 
course Next in the list of Mr. Fish's qualifica- 
tions, we should place a singular soundness and 
rectitude of judgment, and long-established habits 
of caution and circumspection. Probably there 
could not be a safer adviser, except in emergen- 
cies requiring great boldness ; a kind of emer- 
gencies not likely to arise in time of peace. Mr. 
Fish is perfectly familiar with the contemporary 
history and the merits, pro and con, of the chief 
public questions both of our own and of the chief 
foreign countries ; and among the minor but 
necessary qualifications for his new office, he has 
a fluent command of the French and one or two 
other Continental tongues. For the social duties 
of a position in which social influence counts for 
so much, no man is better qualified than Mr. 
Fish. 

" We regret that what we have further to say 
of the new Secretary of State cannot be in the 



Th£ Mew Mministraticm. 84 

same strain of unmingled commendation. In 
national politics Mr. Fish is a Republican, though 
a Republican of that moderate class who march 
in the rear instead of advancing with the front. 
Pie is by conviction a Federalist ; a believer 
in a strong central government ; but his Feder- 
alism is somewhat tempered by the pride which 
he has always felt in the State of New York. In 
former times, he was a Whig and was among the 
last to give up the Whig party ; and though he 
has never quite sympathized with the Republican 
party, he has pretty uniformly supported its lead- 
ing measures, although, when he first acted with 
it, opposition to the extension of slavery was his 
only point of agreement. We fear he has never 
had much liking for the Democratic party ; but 
in State and city affairs he has sometimes, of late 
years, voted for Democratic candidates who com- 
manded his confidence. Since we must have a 
Republican at the head of the Cabinet, we can 
think of no one competent for the place whose 
politics are less objocUonable than those of Mr. 
Fish." 



H 



S3 The J^ew Administration, 



JOHN A. RAWLINS, 

Secretary of War, 



John A. Rawlins was born in Joe Davies 
County, Illinois, on the 13th of February, 1831. 
His parents were in moderate circumstances, and 
were able to give him but a plain education. 
For a little over two winters he attended a com- 
mon school in the neighborhood of his father's 
farm, and afterwards passed eight months at the 
Rock River Seminary, at Mount Morris, Illinois. 
The remainder of his time, from the peroid at 
which he became old enough to labor, until the 
year 1854, was spent in working on the farm and 
burning charcoal. 

In November 1854, he entered the office of Mr. 
J. P. Stevens, of Galena, Illinois, and began the 
Btudy of law. lie prosecuted his studies with 
energy and detormination, and in October 1855 
was admitted to the bar. Hia legal instructoi 



The J^ew Mministration. 83 

having formed a friendship for him, offered him a 
partnership in his practice, which he at once ac- 
cepted, and the firm thus inaugurated continued 
to labor successfully until August 1856, when it 
was dissolved by mutual consent, Mr. Rawlins re- 
taining and carrying on the practice. In Sep- 
tember 1858, he associated with him in business 
David Sheehan Esq., with whom he continued to 
practice his profession until the beginning of the 
War. 

Mr. Rawlins entered actively into the political 
questions of the day. He was an ardent Demo- 
crat of the Douglas school, and was the Douglas- 
Democratic Candidate for Presidential elector from 
the First Illinois district in the Presidential elec- 
tion of 1860. He canvassed his district with his 
Republican opponent, Judge Allen C. Fuller, in 
this Campaign, and won much credit by his abili- 
ty as a speaker and politician. 

Being conservative in his views, Mr. Rawlins 
exerted himself earnestly to bring about a peace- 
ful solution of our national troubles. He was 
willing to concede much to the Southern States 
for the sake of the Union, and was so earnest in 



84 The New Administration, 

his efforts to promote a peaceful settlement of the 
questions at issue, that he laid himself open to 
severe denunciations by the Republicans of his 
State, as a sympathizer with treason. They were 
soon to see, however, that they had done him 
gross injustice. His patriotism was of no half- 
way kind. He wished to exhaust every peaceful 
measure before subjecting the country to the ter- 
rible scourge of War, and he had the moral 
courage to face these denunciations. 

When the news of the attach upon Fort Sumter 
reached Galena, a meeting of the Republican ad- 
herents of the Administration and the War Demo- 
crats was called, to devise measures for aiding 
the Government in the hour of its extremity. 
Mr. U. S. Grant, then a simple citizen of the 
town, presided at this meeting, and Mr. Rawlins 
was amongst the speakers. He (Rawlins,) took 
strong ground in favor of coercive measures on 
the part of the Government, for the purpose of 
putting down the Rebellion. He declared it no 
time to stop to consider minor issues. The very 
existence of the country was at stake, and it was 
every man's duty to stand by the Union, and to 



The JSTew Administration, 85 

support the vjovernment in whatever measures 
might be found necessary for the accomplishment 
of the great end in view. He spoke eloquently 
and forcibly. His hearers were not only de- 
lighted by his declarations, but were also pro- 
foundly astonished. They could scarcely believe 
that this orator whose patriotic appeals now 
thrilled them so warmly, was the man they had 
so recently been denouncing as a traitor and 
rebel sympathizer. 

Mr. Rawlins' speech was the great event of the 
day, and his bold announcement of his support of 
the War had great influence in procuring recruits 
from the Democratic party. No one seemed to 
think anything of the plain, reticent man who 
presided over the meeting. He had never been 
in public life, and his support meant nothing more 
than one additional volunteer for the army. 

How matters have changed since then I The 
plain, reticent, unimportant chairman of that War 
meeting, has carved out a record in history which 
will live as long as the world endures, and the 
eloquent orator whose adhesion to his country's 
cause was the occasion of so much rejoicing at 



S6 The JVew Administration, 

that meeting, has risen only to adorn the State 
which his friend and chief has won for both. 

Having decided on his course, Mr. Rawlins 
not only gave his whole sympathy to the Union 
in its hour of trial, but also endeavored to induce 
others to do likewise. As soon as he heard of 
the defeat of our arms at Bull Run, he began, in 
conjunction with John E. Smith, afterwards 
Brevet Major- General of Volunteers, and J. A. 
Maltby, afterwards Brigadier-General of Volun- 
teers, to raise a regiment of troops for the war. 
While he was engaged in this undertaking, his 
friend and former client. Grant, who had been 
made a Brigadier-General of Volunteers, offered 
him a position on his staff, as Assistant Adjutant- 
General, and procured for hitn the rank of Cap- 
tain. Rawlins accepted the appointmenr, but 
before he could join his commander was called 
upon to i)erform the saddest duty of his life. 

In June 1856, he had m-rried Miss Emily 
Smith, of Goshen, New York, who had borne 
him three children. Her lieahh had been feeble 
for a year or two, however, tnd at the time of 
his api.ointmcnt to the staff of Grant, she was ill 



The JVew .Administration, 87 

at her father^s home. Mr. Rawlins at once re- 
paired to Goshen, to make arrangements for her 
comfort during his absence in the army, and 
while he was with her she sank rapidly, and died 
on the 30th of August. Making arrangements 
for the proper care of his three children, Mr. 
Eawlins, feeling that it was no time to allow 
private grief to conflict with one's duty, set out 
for the army, and on the 15th of September re- 
ported to General Grant at Cairo, Illinois. He 
was at once given the post of Assistant Adjutant" 
General, with the rank of Captain. From that 
time until the present he has continued on the 
fetaff of General Grant, where he has rendered 
yaluable aid to his commander, and taking part 
in all his campaigns. In the spring of 1862, he 
was commissioned Major, and Assistant Adjutant- 
General, to date from the surrender of Fort Don- 
nelson ; on the 1st of November, 1862, he was 
promoted to the grade of Lieutenant-Colonel, ad 
was made Assistant Adjutant-General and Chief 
of Staff, and the next year was made Brigadier- 
General of Volunteers, to date from August 11th, 
1863. On the 24th of February, 1865, he was 



88 The JVew Administration. 

made a Brevet Major-General of Yolunteers ; on 
the Sd of March, 1865, was made Brigadier- 
General in the regular army, and Chief of Staff 
to the Lieutenant-General, and now holds the 
brevet rank of Major-General in the regular 
army, and was, until his present appointment, 
Chief of Staff to the General-in-Chief. 

Since their connection began, the relations ex- 
isting between Generals Grant and Rawlins have 
been of the most intimate and confidential char- 
acter. The general's opinion of his chief of staff 
may be seen irom the following letters urging his 
various promotions: 

" Headquarters Dept. of the Tennessee, ) 
YiCKSBURG, Miss., July 27, 1863. i 

(* Brigadier-General S. Thomas, Adjutaiit-Geru 

eral of the Army. 

*' General — I would respectfully recommend 
for gallant and meritorous service?, and for ex* 
treme fitness for command corresponding to the 
increased rank, the following: promotions, to wit: 
Brigadier-General Greenville M. Dodge, Briga- 
dier-General Alvin P. llovey, Brigadier-General 
John E. Smith, Brigadier-General W. S. Smithy 
to be major-generals of volunteers ; and Colonel 



The New Administration, 89 

Charles R. Wood, Seventy-sixth Ohio ; Colonel 
Alexander Chambers, Sixteenth Iowa ; Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel John A. Rawlins, assistant adjutant, 
general ; Colonel Giles A. Smith, Eighth Mis- 
souri ; Colonel John M. Corse, Sixth Iowa ; 
Colonel John B. Sanborn, Fourth Minnesota;, 
Colonel W. Q. Gresham, Fifty-third Indiana ; 
Colonel M. F. Force, Twentieth Ohio ; Colonel 
T. Kirby Smith, Fifty-fourth Ohio, to be briga- 
dier-generals of volunteers. These officers have 
all uendered valuable services in the field, and 
will fill the place for which they are recommended 
well. 

" Lieutenant-Colonel John A. Rawlins has been 
my assistant adjutant-general from the beginning 
of the rebellion. No officer has now a more hon- 
orable reputation than he has ; and I think I can 
safely say that he would make a good corps com- 
mander. This promotion I would particularly 
ask as a reward of merit. 
''I am, general 

" Yery respectfully, 

'' Your obedient servant, 
(Signed) U. S. Gkant, Major-GeneraL 



90 The J^ew Administration. 

** Washington, D. C, ] 
April 4, 1861. J 

" Hon. H. Wilson. Chairman Com. Military 
Affairs : 

" Sir — I would most respectfully, but earnestly, 
ask for the confirmation of Brigadier-General 
*John A. Rawlins by your honorable body. Gen- 
eral Rawlins has served with me from the begin- 
ning of the rebellion. I know he has most richly 
earned his present position. He comes the nearest 
being indispensable to me of any oflQcer in the 
service. But if his confirmation is dependent on 
his commanding troops, he shall command troops 
at once. There is no department commander 
near where he has served, that would not most 
gladly give him the very largest and most re- 
sponsible command his rank would entitle him to. 

" Believing a short letter on this subject more 
acceptable than a long one, I will only add, that 
it is my earnest desire that General Rawlins 
should be confirmed : that if he fails, besides the 
loss it will be to the service and to me personally, 
I shall feej, that by keeping with me a valuable 
officer, because he made himself valuable, I have 
worked him an injury. 

" Withgreatrespcct, your obedient servant, 
•* (Signed) '' U. S. Grant, 

"Lieutenaut-General U. S. A." 



The N&io Administration, 91 

*' Headquarters Armies of the \ 

United States, City Point, Ya., v 

February 23, 1865. ) 

" Dear Washburne — Inclosed I send yon a 
letter just received from Colonel Duff, late of my 
staff. I should be delighted if an act should pass 
Congress giving the commander of the army a 
chief of staff with the rank of a brigadier-general 
in the regular army. It is necessary to have such 
an officer, and I see no reason why the law should 
not give it. It would also reward an officer who 
has won more deserved reputation in this war 
than any other who has acted throughout purely 
as a staff-officer. 

" I write to you instead of Duff, knowing your 
present friendship for Rawlins as well as myself^ 
and because you are in a place to help the thing 
along, if you think well of it. 
" (Signed) 

" U. S. Grant, 
" Lieutenant-General U. S. A." 

It was well understood when Grant came into 
power as President, that General Rawlins would 
be made Secretary of War. His nomination 
would doubtless have been sent to the Senate on 
the 5th of March, had not his health been too- 



■92 The JVew Administration, 

delicate to permit him to enter upon the duties of 
the office just then. He has been so long and so 
intimately associated with General Grant, that 
the latter naturally desires to have the benefit 
of hia advice and experience until the last 
moment. 

General Rawlins brings to the discharge of his 
new duties a vast amount of experience and 
knowledge of the military affairs, gained by him 
in the responsible position of Chief-of-Staff to the 
General of the Army. He possesses the perfect 
confidence of the President, and will receive the 
hearty and entire support of the latter in his 
administration. It is confidently expected that 
he will continue the beneficent measures of reform 
begun in his department by Grant himself during 
his ad interim Secretaryship ; and that he will 
make a clear-headed, practical and business-like 
chief of the branch of the Government which has 
been committed to his charge. 



The Jfew Administratwn,, 9^ 



I 



JACOB D. COX, 

Secretary of the Interior. 

Jacob Dolson Cox was born in Montreal, 
Canada, on the 27th of October, 1828. His fa- 
ther was a citizen of New- York and a master 
builder by trade. He had undertaken the con- 
tract for the carpenter work in the Church of 
Notre Dame, in Montreal, and was in that city 
Buperintending the work when the subject of this 
sketch was born. The next year he returned to 
New York, where the childhood and yonth of his 
son were passed. In 1846 he removed to Ohio. 
In 1851 young Cox graduated at Oberlin Col- 
lege, the great centre of Western Abolitionism. 
In 1852 he began the practice of law in the vil- 
lage of Warren, and about this time married the 
daughter of the President of the College, at 
which he had been educated. 

Soon after this he took his first steps in politics, 
identifyiug himself with the Republicans of the 



94 The JVew Administration, 

most ultra school, and in 1859 was elected to the 
Ohio Senate from the Trumbull and Mahoning 
district. He at once took a commanding posi- 
tion in that body, and it soon came to be under- 
stood that he shared with the present General 
Garfield the honors of the leadership of the Leg- 
islature. 

He was still a member of the Senate when the 
fall of Fort Sumter occasioned the first call to 
arms in behalf of the Union. Appreciating the 
magnitude of the occasion, he threw aside all 
other matters, and devoted himself to the task of 
filling the quota of troops demanded of Ohio. 
On the 23d of April, 1861, Governor Dennison 
commissioned him a Brigadier General of Ohio 
volunteers, and assigned him to duty with Gener- 
al McClellan, who at once set him to work, ex- 
amining the State Arsenal and collecting and or- 
ganizing volunteers at Camp Jackson. Soon after 
this he was put in charge of Camp Dennison. 
Upon the re-enlistment of his troops for three 
years, he was appointed, by President Lincoln, a 
Brigadier General of Volunteers, to rank 
from May loth, 1801. In July, of the same year, 



The New Administration, 95 

he was placed in command of the Kanawha Val- 
ley, in Western Yirginia. His force consisted 
of a brigade of infantry, a troop of horse, and a 
battery of artillery. He was ordered by Gener- 
al McClellan to advance towards Charleston and 
Gauley Bridge, and occupy those places. His ad- 
vance was checked, however, by the enemy under 
Brigadier- General Henry A. Wise, at Scary 
Creek. In this skirmish Cox's vanguard was 
worsted. By a bold manoeuvre, he turned the 
position of the Southern army, and forced Wise 
back beyond the Gauley, capturing one field piece, 
sixteen hundred small arms, and a number of 
prisoners. 

Wise was now re-inforced by Floyd, who as- 
sumed the command, and moved again towards 
the Ohio^ Cox's force being inferior to that op- 
posed to him, he was compelled to retire, which 
he did, warmly contesting the ground over which 
he passed. During the summer and fall the ene- 
my succeeded several times in reaching the Ka- 
nawha, but were never able to gain a permanent 
foothold there. Near the close of the fall, Gen- 
eral Cox was re-inforced by McCook's brigade, 



96 The New Administration, 

and with this assistance he compelled the enemy 
to retreat as far as the Sewell Mountain, Rose- 
crans now joined him with re-inforcements, and 
took personal command of the army, but as the 
season was too far advanced for active operations, 
nothing of a definite nature was accomplished du- 
ring the winter. 

In the Spring of 1862, General Fremont, who 
had superseded Rosecrans in the command of the 
Mountain Department, under a combined move- 
ment against the Virginia and Tennessee railroad 
and South Western Virginia, from which the en- 
emy drew a large part of their supplies. By this 
plan, the first column, under his immediate com- 
mand, was to move against Lynchburg from Be- 
verley, and at the same time General Cox's col- 
umn was to advance from the Kanawha, and oc- 
cupy Newborn, on the Virginia and Tennessee 
railroad. The two columns moved off at the ap- 
pointed time, early in May, and Cox's command 
had gotten as far as Parisbui'g, when the whole 
plan was suddenly and unexpectedly destroyed 
by Jackson's victories over Banks in the Shenan- 
doah Valley. These reverses to our arms com- 



The New Administration. 97 

pelled Fremont to march at once to Banks's as- 
sistance, which he did promptly. He immediate- 
ly informed General Cox that he must use his 
own discretion in meeting the superior force of 
the enemy which was now left free to concen- 
trate against him. Cox fell hack towards Lew s- 
burg, foiling several energetic efforts of the ene- 
my to intercept him, and intrenched himself in a 
strong position at Flat Top Mountain, which he 
held for several months. 

About ihe middle of August, 1862, General 
Cox was ordered to re inforce General Pope's 
army on the Potomac, with half of his force, and 
obtained permission from the Yfar Department 
to accompany the division in person. He at once 
marched to the head of navigation on the Kana- 
wha, while his troops were placed on steamers 
and conveyed to Parkersburg, and transported 
thence to Wasliington by rail. A part of his 
force, under Colonel Crook, was hurried forward 
to Pope at Warrenton Junction, but the remnin- 
der was cut off ))y the movements of tlie enemy. 
General McClellan, to whom General Cnx was 
now directed to report, ordered him to occupy 



98 The New Administration. 

the works on Upton's Bill, near Falls Church, 
which were regarded as the key to the defences 
of Alexandria. He held these works until 
Pope's defeated army was safe inside of them. 
The two regiments of Crook's brigade were now 
reunited with the division. 

During the march through Maryland against 
Lee, General Cox commanded his division, which 
led the advance of the right wing of the Army 
of the Potomac to South Mountain. He secured 
the Monocacy bridge and entered Frederick, 
driving off Stuart's cavalry wliich had been left 
by Lee to watch General McClellan. On the 
14th of September, he opened the attack upon the 
enemy at South Mountain, and participated in 
the hottest fighting of the day When General 
Reno was killed early in the fight, the command 
of the corps passed to General Cox, who handled 
it in such a manner as to elicit the praise of Mc- 
Clellan and Burnside. He continued in com- 
mand of the Ninth Corps during the battle of 
Antietam, and bore a conspicuous part in Burn- 
side's famous passage of the >tone Bridge. 

Generals McClellan and Burnside now urged 



The New Administration. 99' 

the President to bestow upon the gallant com- 
mander of the " Kanawha division " a commission 
as Major-General of Volunteers, which request 
was complied with, the commission dating from 
tlie 7th of October, 1862. 

Soon after this he was ordered to West Vir- 
ginia, and placed in command of that State. 
The Federal troops had just been driven back 
from the Kanawha by the enfemy, and Cox at 
once applied himself to the task of remedying 
the disaster. By a series of skilful manojuvres, 
he defeated the enemy in several encounters, 
drove them back beyond the Alleghanies, and re- 
established his old lines at Flat Top. After this 
success, West Virginia was comparatively undis- 
turbed by the Confederates. 

'* The list of promotions sent in to the Senate 
at that session of Congress, was held to be in 
excess of the number allowed by law, and the 
whole list was returned to the President with 
the request that he reduce it about one half, to 
bring it within the limit fixed by statute. Gen- 
eral Cox with many others, lost his grade at that 
time by no demerit of his own, but solely owing 



100 The New Administration, 

to a misunderstanding between the President 
and Senate as to the number the former was au- 
thorized to appoint." 

In the spring of 1863, upon the reorganization: 
of the Military Departments, General Cox was 
ordered to report to General Burnside, who put 
him in command,, of the District of Ohio, with 
his hcad(]aartcrs at Cincinnati. He held tliis 
command until December, when, at his own re- 
quest, he was ordered to the field, and sent to 
East Tennessee. He reached Knoxville just after 
the relief of that place by Sherman, and, being 
the senior officer present, was given the command 
of the Twcnty-tliird Army Corps. When Gen- 
eral Scholield was given the Department, Gen- 
eral Cox acted for a while as his Chief of Staff, 
and then took command of the Third Division 
of the Twenty- tliird Corps, which he led gal- 
lantly through Sherman's campaign against At- 
lanta. 

The Army of the Ohio mustered thirteen tliou- 
sand five hundred and fifty-nine men and twenty- 
eight guns at the (Opening of the canip.iign. It 
was as fine a body of troops as ever took ih© 



The New Administration loi 

€eld, and General Cox was now to have a 
better opportunity than he had yet enjoyed to 
show himself wortliy of such high trust. 

On the 9th of May, 1864, the Army of the 
Ohio broke up its camp and marched towards 
Dalton to support the movement of General Thom- 
as, while McPlierson made his flank movement 
upon Resaca. On the 14th of May, it took part 
in the desperate battle of Resaca, holding the 
extreme left of our line. In the turning move- 
ment by which the Allatoona Pass was flanked, 
Cox again held our left. At Kenesaw Mountain 
bis troops took part in the gallant but unsuc- 
cessful attack on the enemy's works. When 
it was determined to cross the Chattahoochee, 
■and force Johnston back to Atlanta, General 
Sherman ordered General Schofield to move his 
army to^ the river near the mouth of Soap's 
Creek, and effect a lodgement on the east bank. 
This movement was successfully accomplished on 
the 7th of July, Cox's division completely sur- 
prised the guard at the crossing, laid a good pon- 
toon and a trestle bridge, took up a position on the 
<€ast bank on high ground, and secured several 



102 The New Administration, 

good roads leading to Atlanta. The m^vemen-t 
was marked by a promptness and skill which 
drew forth the highest praise from General Sher- 
man. Indeed, throughout the whole campaign 
Schofield had been noted especially for the 
promptness and precision which characterized his 
operations, and in these movements he was ably 
sustained by Gen. Cox. In the fierce battle of the 
22d of July, in which McPherson fell, Schofield 
was ordered to support the Fifteenth Corps in ita 
attempt to regain its lost ground. It is almost 
superfluous to say that the order was obeyed, and 
the enemy driven back with terrible loss. In the 
masterly movement by wliich the army was swung 
around Hood and planted upon the Macon Rail- 
way, and which compelled the evacuation of 
Atlanta, Cox assisted in tlie task, covering the 
movement of the rest of tha army, which he 
performed with his usual skill. Gen'l. Schofield 
was temporarily absent from the army during the 
pursuit of Hood into Alabama, and General Cox 
commanded the Twenty-third Corps in person 
throughout these movements. 

Sherman now decided to abandon the pursuit 



The New Administration, 103 

of Hood, and enter upon his inarch to the sea. 
He had already sent General Thomas to Nash- 
Yille, to collect troops to oppose Hood's pro- 
gr(}ss north wai'ds ; but it was necessary before 
returning to Atlanta, to leave a force immedi- 
ately in Hood's front, in order to meet what- 
ever movements the Rebel commander might de- 
termine upon. For this purpose Sherman de- 
tached from his own army the Fourth and Twen- 
ty-third corps, Hatch's division, and Croxton's 
and Capron's brigades of cavalry, and conferred 
the command of thes(^ troops upon General Scho- 
ficld, who being in charge of the whole movement 
confided the command of the Twenty-third Corps 
to General Cox, to whose skill and energy he 
knew he could trust the execution of the difficult 
and dangerous task. 

With the force thus placed at his command,. 
Schofield was to follow Hood, and attack him if 
he should attempt to interfere with Sherman's 
inarch, and in case he should move northward, to 
impede his progress as much as possible, and aia 
all the time he could for General Thomas at 
NashviRe, under whose orders the whole Federal 



104 The New Administration, 

force in Tennessee and Alabama was placed. 
Hood's army lay at Florence, Alabama, and 
Schofield's at Pulaski, Tennessee. Our force 
being numerically weaker than that of the enemy, 
Schofield wisely determined to act upon the de- 
fensive as far as possible. 

On the 19 th of November, Hood's army crossed 
the Tennessee, and marched northward. Scho- 
field had already taken the precautioa to remove 
all the public property from the places exposed 
to the enemy, and on the 23d commenced to 
withdraw the garrisons from Athens, Decatur, 
and Huntsville, Alabama, sending them towards 
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and on the same night' 
fell back from Pulaski, with his army, to Colum- 
bia, which he reached on the 24th. The enemy 
followed him close, and during the 24th and 25th 
skirmished heavily with Cox's Corps. On tlie 
2Gth Hood brought up strong bodies of infantry, 
and during that day and the 27th made such 
tlireatening demonstrations that Cox, on the 
night of the 27tli, withdrew across Duck river. 

Dispositions were made to hold the crospings 
of tiie river against the enemy, but on the after- 



The New Administration. 105 

noon of the 29th Hood succeeded in forcing a 
passage of the stream, and, moving forward ra- 
pidly, threatened our line of retreat to Franklin. 
As soon as it was dark Cox withdrew from 
liis position on the river, and set out for Frank- 
lin. Both armies were now marching for that 
place, each striving to reach it in advance of 
the other. To our army it was a matter of 
life and death to enter the town before the ene- 
my, for in doing so they would secure a safe pas- 
sage of the Harpeth River, and ensure our junc- 
tion with General Thomas at Nashville ; but 
should Hood reach the town first he would hold 
the crossings against us, and cut us off from 
Nashville, and in such an extremity it was al- 
most a certainty that our whole force would fall 
into his hands. Both sides strained every nerve, 
the troops literally racing over the frozen roads. 
Fortune favored us, and awarded to Gen. Cox the 
success he had so nobly won. That night the 
army marched twenty-five miles, and entered 
Franklin at day-break on the 30th. Cox had 
now secured the safe passage of his army across 
Harpeth river, and Schofield hurrying his trains 



106 The New Administration, 

over, sent them as fast as possible towards Nash- 
ville. 

The enemy had followed close upon us in the 
retreat from Columbia, and had repeatedly made 
sharp attacks upon our rear guard, and they wera 
now so close at hand that it became necessary ta 
halt and give battle to cover the withdrawal of 
the trains. Accordingly, as soon as Franklin was 
reached, the army was put in position on the 
South side of the town, where a line of intrench- 
ments was hastily thrown up, covering the bridges 
over the river. This had scarcely been accom- 
plished when the enemy appeared in front of our 
works, and at once began a determined attack 
upon them. During the day Hood made repeated 
and desperate assaults, and the battle raged furi- 
ously until ten o'clock at night, tlie enemy failing 
to make any impression upon our line. The 
enemy never fought better than at Franklin, and 
the victory was the result of the splendid fighting 
of Schofield's troops. Our loss was two thousand 
three hundred and twenty-six killed, wounded 
and missing, of which four wore missing. The 
losses of the Confederates were frightful. Their 



The New Administration, lOT 

killed and wounded amounted to five thousand 
five hundred and fifty, and in addition to this 
seven hundred and two prisoners fell into our 
hands, making their total loss six thousand two 
hundred and fifty-two. They lost six general offi- 
cers killed, six wounded, and one captured. Their 
ablest general, Patrick Cleburne, was killed. 

Genei'al Thomas was unwilling that Schofield 
should risk a renewal of the battle next day, and 
as our trains were safely on their way to Nash- 
Tille, and the object of the battle accomplished, 
he directed General Schofield to withdraw across 
the Harpeth, and fall back to Nashville. That 
retreat began that night, and on the afternoon of 
the next day, December 1st, our army was in 
position at Nashville. Gen. Schofield now re- 
sumed the command of the Corps, and Cox; 
returned to his division. 

During the siege of Nashville, General Cox, in? 
accordance with the earnest request of Generals 
Sherman and Schofield, made soon after the fall 
of Atlanta; was appointed a Major-General of Vol- 
unteers, his commission dating from the 7th of 
December, 1864. In the battle of Nashville, the 



108 Tlie. New Administration, 

Third Division greatly distinguished itself. It 
carried a prominent position of the enemy, and 
captured eight pieces of Artillery. 

In the final operations before Nashville, Scho- 
field held the left of our line. In the first day's 
battle the corps was used by General Thomas 
chiefly as a reserve, but just about sunset he made 
a sharp attack on the enemy's right, finishing the 
work that Smith had begun. The next afternoon 
when the volleys from the carbines of the cavalry 
announced that the enemy's rear had been gained, 
Thomas ordered a direct attack by all his forces, 
and Cox led his men forward with an im- 
petuosity that swept everything before them. 
They swarmed over the enemy's works, drove 
them out, and pursued tlicm until night made it 
impossible for him to advance farther. 

This victory completely destroyed the power of 
the enemy in the West, and enabled the Govern- 
ment to use the troops of General Thomas for 
operations elsewhere. It was determined to send 
General Schofield, with the Twenty-third Corps, 
to the coast of North Carolina, to co-operate with 
General Sherman in his march from Savannah to 



The New Administration, 109 

Goldsboro. Accordingly Schofield was ordered 
by General Grant to move with his corps to 
Annapolis. He Avas at Clifton, on the Tennessee 
River, when he received this order, on the 14th 
of January. His troops were at once embarked 
in steamers, with their artillery and horses, leav- 
ing behind only their wagons, and convoyed to 
Cincinnati, whence they were transported by rail- 
way to Alexandria, Virginia, an order from the 
headquarters of the army having changed their 
destination from Annapolis to that point. In 
spite of the severe weather and the lateness of 
the season, the whole corps was assembled at 
Alexandria on the 31st of January, 1865. The 
Potomac being frozen over the troops were com- 
pelled to remain at this place until the breaking 
up of the ice permitted the resumption of naviga- 
tion- 
General Schofield, traveling ahead of his corps, 
went to Fortress Monroe, where he was met by 
General Grant. The two commanders then went 
by sea to the mouth of the Cape Fear River, 
which had just fallen into our possession, and had 
a long conference with Admiral Porter and 



110 The New Administration 

General Terrj, respecting the future operations 
01 the army and navy in that quarter. From. 
Fort Fisher they went to Washington, and in ac- 
cordance with the wishes of General Grant, an 
order was issued by the War Department creating 
the Department of North Carolina, and assigning 
Schofield to the command of it. 

About the 5th or 6th of February, the Poto- 
mac being open, General Schofield took Cox^s^ 
division of the 23d Corps, leaving Couch's to 
lollow as rapidly as possible, and embarked for 
the mouth of the Cape Fear River, which wa& 
held by the forces under General Terry, and 
landed on the beach near Fort Fisher on the 9th 
of February. 

Our troops under General Terry, aided by the 
Navy under Admiral Porter, had taken Fort 
Fisher, which commands tlie entrance to the Cape 
Fear, but the enemy still held Fort Anderson, oa 
the opposite side of the river, and from this work 
they occupied a line of breastworks running back 
to a swamp about three quarters of a mile dis- 
tant. On the Fort Fisher side their line ex- 
tended from the river to Masonboro Sound, 



The New Administration, 111 

across the entire peninsula. This line could be 
held by the enemy against any attack in front, 
and could only be turned by marching around 
the swamp whicli protected its right, or by cross- 
ing Masonboro Sound above its extreme left, both- 
difficult and hazardous operations.* 

It seemed utterly impossible for Schofield with 
his small force to accomplish anything against an 
army so strongly posted, but as Sherman was 
rapidly approaching through South Carolina, he 
felt that he cculd not aflbrd to lose the time 
necessary to bring up re-enforcemcnts, and he de- 
termined to commence operations at once. Hia 
first effort was directed against the enemy's left, 
and on the 11th of February, two days after his 
arrival, he advanced General Terry's command, 
supported by Cox's division, towards the enemy's 
line, and drivii^g in the Rebel pickets, entrenched 
two of his brigades so close to the hostile works 
as to compel the enemy to hold them in force. 
Having occupied the attention of the Confeder- 
ate commander at this point, Schofield now pre- 

^ Shermau and his Campaigns. 



112 The New Administration, 

pared to turn liis right. He sent a number of 
boats and pontoons by sea to a point on the beach, 
above the enemy's right flank, and marched Cox's 
and Ames' divisions along the beach to the same 
point. His design was for these troops to haul 
the boats across tlie land to Masonboro Sound, 
bridge it, and cross over to the main land, under 
the cover of the darkness. This would flank a 
strong column between the enemy's works and 
Wilmington and compel the oss of one or the 
otlier, if not of both. 

It was a brilliant plan, but it was not destined 
to succeed. The night of the 14th of February, 
which was appointed for the movement, was wild 
and stormy. A furious gale howled along the 
coast, and the waves of the ocean came rolling in 
in huge masses of water which flooded the beach 
to such an extent that it was almost impossible 
to drag the pontoons through the Sound. The 
huge wagons toiled along slowly, and the night 
was almost gone before half the distance was ac- 
complished. It was found that it would be im- 
possible to reach the place at which it was in 
tended to cross the Sound until afier doylin^ht, 



The New Administration, 113 

when the enemy would discover the movcracnt 
and prevent the passage. In view of tliis, the 
attempt was abandoned, and the troops were 
withdj-awn. 

Couch's division ot the 23d Corps had now 
arrived, and General Schoficld determined to 
move against the enemy's right flank on the other 
side of the river. Accordingly, Cox's and Ames^ 
divisions, and Moore's brigade of Coucli's divi- 
sion, were ferried over to Smithville. This force 
was moved up in front of the Confederate works 
at Fort Anderson, and a line of intrenchments 
thrown up, as had been done on the other side of 
the Cape Fear. Two brigades were left to hold 
this line, and General Cox, with two brigades of 
liis own and the whole of Ames' division, was or- 
dered to pass around the swamp which covered 
the enemy's right flank, and gain tlie Wilmington 
road in the rear of their line. The distance 
around the swamp to the point in the enemy's 
rear which Cox was ordered to gain was fifteen 
miles, and while our column was on its march 
the Confederate cavalry detected the movement. 
Instead of making any attempt to resist the ad- 



Ill The New Administration, 

vance of General Cox, however, the Confederate 
commander, on the night of the 19th of Feb- 
ruary, evacuated his works on both sides of the 
Cape Fear, and fell back to a second line^ pro- 
tected on the east side of the river by marshes, 
and on the west side by Town Creek. The prin- 
cipal works which the enemy had erected for the 
defence of Wilmington and the river were now 
in the hands of General Schofield, and the fall of 
the city was reduced almost to a question of 
time. 

On the 20th, General Terry moved his troops 
up in front of the enemy's new line on the east 
side of the river, and General Cox drew up his 
forces in front of the works behind Town Creek, 
the only bridge over which had been destroyed 
by the Confederates. Cox succeeded in finding 
one flat boat in the stream, and by means of 
this crossed a part of his infantry over the 
creek. Then, wading tlirougli the swamps, he 
attacked the enemy's flank and rear, capturing 
two cannon and a number of prisoners, and se- 
curing the site of the bridge, wliicli he rebuilt 
during tho night. On the 21st he cr>sscd his 



The Nenjo Administration, 115 

artillery at the bridge, and pushed on in the 
direction of Wilmington. Reaching Brunswick 
River that afternoon, he captured a part of the 
enemy's pontoon bridge, and crossing his troops to 
Eagle Island, prepared to pass the Cape Fear 
above Wilmington. During this time, General 
Terry, though unable to carry the enemy's line in 
his front, had kept the Confederate commander 
BO busy there that he could spare no troops to 
interrupt Cox's movement. 

The appearance of General Cox's column on 
Eagle Island satisfied the Confederates of their 
inability to h^Id the city, and on the night of the 
21st, they burned their steamers, cotton, stores, 
and other public property, aud evacuated the 
place, withdrawing their troops across Northeast 
River. Early the next morning, the 22d of Feb- 
ruary, General Terry discovered their with- 
drawal from his front, and moving forward 
occupied Wilmington, sending a detachment in 
pursuit of the enemy as far as Northeast River. 

Schofield's brilliant conceptions were thus 
crowned with success. The principal sea-port of 
the Confederates was now in our hands, we had 



116 The New Administration, 

secured a firm base on the North Carolina coast, 
from which to cooperate with Sherman, and had 
captured fifty-one heavy guns, fifteen field pieces, 
and a large amount of ammunition, besides in- 
flicting some loss in men upon the enemy, and we 
had done all this at a cost of only two hundred 
men killed and wounded. Both the army and 
the country might well be proud of the result. 

As soon as Wilmington was occupied, a steam- 
er was despatched up the Cape Fear with dis- 
patches for General Sherman, whom it was ex- 
pected to overtake at Fayetteville, informing him 
of the success. 

Wilmington having fallen, it now became Scho- 
field's duty to advance upon Goldsboro, and open 
the way for Sherman. To do this it would be 
necessary to march overland from some point on 
the coast, and the army was almost destitute of 
wagon transportation. The railroad from Wil- 
mington could not be used, inasmuch as there was 
no rolling stock at that point, so that it became 
necessary to advance upon Goldsboro from New- 
berne, from which point he could have the use of 
the railroad. 



The Neio Administration, IIT 

On the 26th of February, General Cox was sent 
to Newberne, in command of three divisions, with 
orders to move along the railroad towards Golds- 
boro, repairing the road as he advanced. He 
reached Newberne on tlie 2d of March, devoted 
the next day to preparing for his advance, and on 
the 4th began his march. The enemy endeavored 
to check his progress by a sharp attack near 
King\ston, on the 8th, but he drove them ofiT 
finally, though he at first suffered a repulse of his 
advance force. On the 10th Bragg renewed the 
attack with sixteen thousand men, but was re- 
pulsed with heavy loss, and driven beyond the 
Neuse River, the passage of which was secured. 
The next day, General Cox was re-enforced by 
the Twenty-third Corps, and Kingston was occu- 
pied. The advance was now continued under 
General Schotield's immediate direction, and on 
the 22d of March Goldsboro was occupied. 

On the 27th the command of the Tvventy-tliird 
Corps was permanently given to General Cox by 
the War Department. He led his corps in the 
movement upon Raleigh, and after Johnston's 
suri'Ciidcr was phiced in command of the Western 



118 The New Administration, 

half of the State of North Carolina, where he 
superintended the paroling of Johnson's army at 
Oreensboro. 

In July 18G5 he was placed in command of the 
district of Ohio, with his headquarters at Colum- 
bus, and was charged with the mustering of the 
Ohio troops out of the service of the govern- 
ment. 

" The military character of General Cox," says 
the author of Ohio In the War, may be read in 
the barrenest record of his career. He was not 
a great general. He was not even a great corps 
commander. He never seemed brilliant, but he 
was generally safe. He never displayed the in- 
spiration of war, but he generally followed sound 
rules of war. He was too cold to be loved by 
his troops, but when they had been some time 
under his command, they never failed to respect 
him. He was too tame and methodical to be ad- 
mired by his commanders, but when they came to 
know him well they never failed to trust and to 
advance him. And it can be truly said of him — 
sb correct and prudent was he — that on the day 
of his muster out he stood higher in the esteem 



TJie New Administration, 119 

t)f the Government and the country, than he had 
on any previous day throughout his military 
career." 

In the summer of 1865, he was elected Gover- 
nor of Ohio. During the campaign, in reply to 
a request on the part of some of his Oberlin 
friends to know his views in relation to the ques- 
tion of negro suffrage, he declared himself utter- 
ly opposed to conferring such rights upon the 
blacks, and supported himself by some very sound 
arguments. His letter gave great offence to the 
extreme Republicans, and caused his vote to fall 
considerably short of that cast for the general 
ticket. He resigned his commission in the army 
to enter upon the Governorship of the State. 
He discharged his duties faithfully, and was ad- 
mitted on all sides to have made a model Gover- 
nor, biH his administration was marked by no 
event of importance. He gave still further of- 
fence to the Radical wing of his party by an 
effort to secure sympathy for President Johnson 
among the members of the Ohio delegation in 
Congress. 

He declined to be a candidate for re-election, 



120 The New Administration, 

and determined to apply himself to the task of 
acquirintr a foiiune. Removing to Cincinnati, lie- 
began the practice of law, and Foon acquired a- 
large and profitable businoFS, which he declined 
to relinquish for any political appointment. Presi- 
dent Johnson offered to make him Commissioner 
of Internal Revenue but lie declined to accept it, 
and it is said would have refused to serve as 
Secietriry of War had the post been offered him, 
as Grant desired, during the Stanton didieulty. 

General Cox enjoys the entire confidence of 
the new President, and it is doubtless liis warm 
fi'icnd>liip for his chief whicli has induced liiin to 
depart from his resolution to coniine himself to 
his private business, and accept the Secretar}'- 
ship to which he has been called. 

'* In jici sonal appearance General Cox is trim, 
coinpact and elegant. His accomplishments cor- 
respond to the ideas which his iileas sngge.-ts. 
* * lie was a well learned lawyer. lie was 
well versed in belles-lettres lie read French 
fluently, and was as familiar with Fieneh novels 
as with Fiench works of tactics. He was learned 
in niiliiary lileratiire — was, indeed, behu-c tiie 



The New Administration. 121 

outbreak of the war, sometliing of a military 
scholar. He was well read in remoter channels 
— in history and the philosophy of politics. He 
wrote with nervous grace and force. His style 
in extemporaneous debate was a model of con- 
densed power and skill. On the freer arena of 
the ' stump,' he acquitted himself creditably. He 
had a still rarer accomplishment — he fenced 
well."* 

Says the New York Tribune : " Among all 
the prominent public men of Ohio there is no 
one his superior (and not more than one his 
equal) in classical scholarship, in familiarity with 
modern literature, and in acquaintance with the 
latest results of philosophical thinkers on Politi- 
cal Economy and Finance. He has a methodical, 
prompt, crisp way of doing business, and is ad- 
mirably fitted for the executive work of the^ 
Interior or any of the other Departments." 

o Ohio in the War. 



122 The JS'ew Adnmmtration, 



GEORGE S. BOUTWELL, 
Secretary of the Treasury, 

George S. Boutwell was born at Brookline, 
Massaclmsctts, ou the 28tli of January, 1818. 
His parents were persons of moderate means, 
and he was debarred by this circumstance from 
acquiring a better education than could be gained 
by a few years' attendance at the public schools 
of his neighborhood. AVhen very young he was 
taken from school, and put to labor on a farm in 
order that his earnings might contribute to the 
support of his family. He did not remain long 
in this position, however, but entered a store in 
the town of Groton, Massachusetts, as an appren- 
tice. The next twenty years of his life were 
passed in this place. He worked hard and faith- 
fully, and from an apprentice rose to be a clerk, 
and at length became the proprietor of his own 
Blore. 



The New Administration, 123 

During these twenty years he had been working 
equally well in another field. Aware of the de* 
ficiencies in his early education he studied hard 
to acquire knowledge, and in the time we have 
mentioned, by dint of his energy and patient in- 
dustry, went through as full and severe a course 
of studies as that required of the graduate of 
any college in the land. He was not satisfied 
with this, however. Although he was far ad- 
vanced in his manhood, he devoted himself to the 
study of the law, and mastered it so determinedly 
that in a few years he was called to the bar. 

Being determined to rise in his new calling, he 
abandoned his mercantile pursuits entirely, and 
devoted himself to his profession with such ardor 
that he acquired a fair practice from the first, 
and in a few years won a reputation as a lawyer, 
which was flattering to say the least. 

He took a deep interest in politics from the 
first, and identified himself with the Whig party. 
In 1842 he was elected to the Legislature of 
Massachusetts, in which he served for seven suc- 
cessive years. Upon leaving the Legislature, he 
returned again to private life, but was not des- 



124 The J^ew Administration* 

tined to remain long at home. His servicer as a 
legislator had won him so much credit that his 
party, in 1851, nominated him for the high office 
of Governor of the State, and elected him by a 
handsome majority. His administration was 
eminently satisfactory to the Whigs, and he was 
re-elected Governor in 1852, giving equal satis- 
faction during his second term. In 1853 he was 
elected a member of the Convention which met 
for the purpose of revising the Constitution of 
the State. 

For two years, Mr. Boutwell held the office of 
Bank Commissioner, for eleven years he was 
Secretary of the Board of Education, of Massa- 
chusetts, and for six years one of the Board of 
Overseers of Harvard College. He discharged 
the duties of these various positions with great 
credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of 
the people. 

In IbGl, he was appointed a m.ember of the 
Peace Conference, whicii mot in Washington for 
the purpose of averting the War, but which failed 
to accomplish its object. The next year he was 
made by President Lincoln the Commissioner of 



The Neu, Administration, 125 

the Internal Revenue, an office which had just 
been created. He served with credit in this 
capacity until March, 1863. Having been elected 
to the House of Representatives, in the Fall of 
1862, he resigned his position as the head of the 
Internal Revenue Bureau, and took his seat in 
Congress. He has been regularly returned ever 
since. He was a delegate to the National Repub- 
lican Convention, which met at Baltimore in 1864, 
and nominated Mr. Lincoln for a second term as 
President. 

He took a prominent part in the legislation of 
Congress, and the measures of the Administration 
for the prosecution of the War received his 
cordial support. He hailed the emancipation 
proclamation of Mr. Lincoln with delight, and 
advocated all the measures connected with or 
growing out of it. Ho was one of the earliest 
and staunchest supports of the measures for em- 
ploying negro troops, and also one of the first, 
after the War, to advocate negro suffrage. Early 
in 1865, he said in a speech before the Emancipa- 
tion League, at a meeting held in Boston, " That 
he had the fullest faith that the people of this 



126 The New Administration 

country will rise to a full comprehension of the 
great question, and will look for no restoration 
of these States except on the foundation of jus- 
tice. He wanted the two districts known as the 
States of South Carolina and Florida re-organized 
"bj the next Congress as Territories, and the 
colored people invited to settle there — not in any 
way compelled to do so — and build up States of 
their own, from which they might in a few years 
send black representatives to Congress." 

Mr. Boutwell is a member of the ultra Radical 
Wing of the Republican party, and a prominent 
champion of its most extreme measures. He took 
an active part in the measures for the impeach- 
ment of President Johnson. In November, 186Y, 
he presented to the House the first report advo- 
cating the impeachment measures, and when that 
step was finally resolved upon, was appointed, 
and served as one of the managers on the part of 
the House. 

His views on financial matters are in harmonv 
with those of liis pnrty.and are well expressed in 
tlie lollowing brief summary : 



The New Adminutiation. 127 

HIS PLAN FOR PAYING THE DEBT. 

"The question of the runding- of the national 
debt being before the House July 21, 1868, Mr. 
Boutwell introduced a substitute for the Senate 
bill and the bill reported to the House from the 
Committee of the Whole. The latter provided 
for the funding of the entire interest-bearing 
public debt, amounting to $2,150,000,000, all of 
it payable in coin upon forty years' time, and at 
three and sixty-five hundredths per cent, rate of 
interest, Mr. Boutwell said : 

" The amendment to which I wisli to call the 
attention of the House provides for the funding 
of $1,200,000,000 of the public debt, $100,000,000 
payable in fifteen years at five per cent, interest, 
$11)0,000,000 payable in twenty years at four and 
a half per cent, interest, and $100,000,000 paya- 
ble in twenty-five years at three and sixty-five 
hundredths per cent, interest ; the latter sum of 
$100,000,000 payable, principal and interest, at 
the option of the taker, eitlier in the United 
States or at London, Paris, or Frankfort. 

HE TAKES A HOPEFUL VIEW OF THE DEBT. 

" When we consider the rapid development of 
the resources of this country, its increase of popu- 
lation and the augmentation of wealth, there is 
no hazard in the prediction that our excess of 



128 The New Administration, 

revenue to be applied to the liquidation of the 
public debt will not be less in any future year 
than it will be in the present year. Now, sir, a 
nation is distinguished from individuals in its 
financial affairs in the particular I am now con- 
sidering. If an individual owes a debt three, five, 
or ten years hence, and has money which he could 
now apply to that debt, if it be not in the terras 
of the contract that he shall pay it immediately, 
he may use that mor.ey in various other pursuits, 
in business, in enterprises, or even hazards, and 
pay his debt when it matures. But a government 
is differently situated. Unless it be absolute 
poverty in the national treasury, I know of no 
condition of things more disadvantageous to pub- 
lic credit than the possession of large funds in 
the treasury without any present means of using 
those funds in a legitimate and proper way. 

THE DEBT A TRIFLING AFFAIR AFTER ALL. 

"Sir, this debt looks pretty large, but it is a 
small debt for this country, when you consider 
that we paid $1,000,000,000 in less than three 
years. What Is to be said of the $2,000,000,000 
remaining? Why, sir, when the war of 1812 
closed, our public debt was $127,000,0':^0. That 
does not look large to us, but it was as heavy a 
debt for the seven millions of people in the 



The New Administration, 129 

United States at that time, considering that a 
day's labor would not produce more than thirty- 
three per cent, in gold of what it will produce 
now, as the $2,000,000,000 of debt is to the people 
of the country at the present time. 

HIS OPINION ABOUT SELLING TREASURY COLD. 

*' I object to the sale of gold. If we require the 
Secretary of the Treasury to advertise tliat he 
will be ready at any time to pay the interest on 
the debt next to become due, the public creditors 
abating the interest on the payments which he 
makes to them, there will be always opportunity 
for those who own coupons or those who choose 
to buy coupons to command the gold that is in 
the treasury ; and at any rate the amount whidi 
lie advertises that he will pay upon demand, is so 
much gold upon the markets of the country. The 
difference between this proposition and the propo- 
sition to sell gold is, that we pay out gold where 
it is to be paid, and relieve ourselves of interest 
becoming due next October, next November, or 
next January, and also improve the credit of the 
country. Coupled with that is a provision pro- 
hibiting all sales of gold by the Secretary of 
the Treasury. I need not make any suggestions 
to this House, in the way of reasons or argu- 
ments in favor of taking from the Secretary a 



130 Tlie New Administration, 

power which, if honestly exercised, can never be 
productive of any good whatsoever. 

WHAT HE THINKS OP PAYING THE FIVE-TWENTIES 
IN GOLD. 

[Mr. "Randall, of Pennsylvania, asked Mr. Bout- 
well if he believed the five-twenty bond were 
payable in gold ?] 

" I will state exactly what is my opinion on 
that subject. When we issued $500,000,000 of 
five-twenties, we stipulated to the public creditors 
that the United States notes, known as green- 
backs, should never be issued in excess of four 
hundred millions. That was the first stipulation. 
The second stipulation was that we would not 
compel payment under five years, but there was 
a stipulation over and above the law, inherent in 
the very nature of society, in the experience and 
tradition of all mankind, that every nation in its 
senses, actuated by an honest purpose, if, when 
struggling with vicissitudes, it was obliged to 
resort to forced loans, an extraordinary means of 
raising money, by which ils credit was impaired 
and its securities are forced below the par value 
of gold, that such a nation should make every 
honest effort possible for the resumption of specie 
payments and the restoration of its public credit. 
Tiiat obligation rests upon us. Now, if according 



The New Administration, 131 

to the terms of the act of 1864 it docs not ap- 
pear beyond all cavil that we might not pay these 
bonds in greenbacks, in the same act it does ap- 
pear that we shall never issue more than $400,- 
000,000 of greenbacks." 



132 The New Administration, 



ADOLPH E. BORIE, 

Secretary of the Navy, 



Adolph E. Borie was born in the City of 
Philadelphia, in the year 1809, and is now in his 
sixtieth year. He is a member of one of the 
oldest and most aristocratic families of Pennsyl- 
vania, and is a gentleman of great wealth. His 
ancestors, on his father's side, came from Bor- 
deaux, and have long been amongst the leading 
merchants in Philadelphia. His mother was the 
daughter of a wealthy planter of St. Domingo, 
who was compelled to leave that island during 
the frightful negro insurrections of the last cen- 
tury. 

The subject of this sketch was educated at the 
University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated 
at the age of sixteen. Upon reaching his twenty- 
fourth year he went to Paris to complete his 
studies. He was possessed of unusual intelligence 



TJie New Administration. 133 

and application, and passed successfully through 
all his examinations. After finishing his educa- 
tion he traveled for several years in Europe, ac- 
quiring a personal knowledge of the old world, ^ 
which was destined to be of great service to him 
in his after life. 

Returning to Philadelphia, he entered into 
business there, and soon became a member of the 
celebrated firm of McKean Borie & Co., of that 
city. He displayed great ability as a merchant, 
and it was not long before he became one of the 
principal importers of the country. His efforts 
were at an early day given to developing the 
China trade, which he foresaw would one day be- 
come one of the most important interests of the 
country, and he has had the satisfaction of seeing 
his expectations realized, and his wealth grow with 
the increase of that trade. He has established a 
proud name as a merchant and as a man in his 
native city, and has amassed in his honored call- 
ing an immense fortune, which he dispenses liberal- 
ly in support of all objects the wisdom and benefi- 
cence of which command his approval. 

Though never an active participant in political 



134 The New Administration, 

struggles, Mr. Borie has been careful to exercise^ 
his rights and discharge his duties as a citizen, 
and has therefore taken a keen interest in the 
great questions of the day. He was a Whig, at 
the outset, and during the existence of that party 
voted for and sustained its men and measures^ 
Upon the organization of the Republican party, 
he became a member of it, and has voted regularly 
with it ever since. He is still a faithful follower 
of the doctrines of Henry Clay, and an ardent 
advocate of the principle of " protection to Am- 
erican industry." He voted for Mr. Lincoln, and 
contributed as far as lay in his power to the suc- 
cess of the Republicans in 1860. 

Upon the breaking out of the War, he promptly 
declared himself in favor of a vigorous and un- 
compromising prosecution of the struggle. His 
convictions as to the necessity of preserving the 
Union, were based upon his great experience and 
wisdom as a man of business, as well as his devo- 
tion to the cause of his country. He set a sliining 
example of liberality and self-sacrifice in the 
practical aid he extended to tlie Government. 
He bore the expense of equipping and sending to 



The JSfew Administration. 135 

the field several regiments of troops from his own 
State, and gave his personal attention to the task 
of getting them off promptly and in good order ; 
and it is a fact well known in Philadelphia that 
he was always amongst the first to subscribe 
liberally to any object calculated to advance the 
cause of the Union. The amount of money thus 
contributed by him is not known to us, at present, 
but there can be no doubt that it was more than 
the fortune of many a rich man. 

These services and patriotic sacrifices made Mr. 
Borie a marked man in his native city, and raised 
him high in the afi"ectionate esteem of the loyal 
citizens. When the Union League of Philadelphia 
■was organized, Mr. Borie was made its Vice- 
President. Sympathizing fully with the object of 
the organization he contributed to it a large part 
of the princely sum by which it was enabled to 
erect its magnificent club house. 

Soon after the close of the War, General Grant, 
during a visit to the club house, took occasion to 
compliment one of the members upon the liberality 
displayed by the League during the War, and 
asked where such large sums as had been given 



136 The *Pfew Administration. 

were raised. General Meade, hearing the remark, 
presented Mr. Borie to his commander, and in- 
formed him that this gentleman was one of the 
principal contributors to the fund of the organiza- 
tion. It seems that General Grant and Mr. Borie 
were favorably impressed with each other from 
the first and their acquaintance soon ripened into 
a warm friendship. The result of this intimacy 
is the bestowal upon Mr. Bcrie of the high office 
of Secretary of the Navy. 

Mr. Borie is rather below the medium height, 
and is both handsome and dignified in appearance. 
His hair and beard are white, and his countenance 
is grave and thoughtful, yet withal kind and pleas- 
sant. In manner he is polite to all, and is a fair 
specimen of the polished gentleman of the old 
school — a race fast disappearing from our land. 
He is very popular in his own city with all classes, 
and is both esteemed and loved by his friends. 

His business connections in Philadelphia are 
many and extensive. Besides being a member of 
one of the largest importing houses in the city, 
he is a director in the National Bank of Com- 
merce, a member of the Board of Trade, a manager 



The JVew Mministr ation. 1ST 

of the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society — one of 
the oldest and best institutions of its kind in tho 
Union — and is connected with a number of chari- 
table and benevolent institutions. 

Having taken no active part in politics, he 
enters upon his new position, free from any party 
ties or pledges, and will administer its duties 
faithfully and impartially. His extensive business 
knowledge, his admitted capacity, and his vast 
experience, render him a valuable counsellor to 
the President, and a safe head for the department 
over which he presides. 



138 The N&w Administration, 



JOHN A. J. CRESWELL, 

Post-Master General. 



John A. J. Ckesswell was born on the 8tb 
of March, 1828. His parents being possessed of 
abundant means, he was given an excellent edu- 
cation. He graduated at Dickinson College. 
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, with the first honors of 
his class in 1848. He was now a little over 
twenty years of age, and having decided to adopt 
the law as his profession, at once entered upon 
his studies. He was admitted to the bar two 
years later. He devoted himself with energy to 
his profession, and in a few years acquired a fair 
practice, which grew larger year by year, until 
at the time of his entrance into political life, he 
was justly regarded as one of the most prominent 
and successful lawyers in the State. 

His first votes were cast for the Whig party, 
with which he sympathized and acted until the 



The New Administration, 139 

disappearance of that organization from the po- 
litical arena. His profession claimed his princi- 
pal attention, however, and he was not disposed 
to neglect its sure rewards for the uncertainties 
of party triumphs. 

In 1850, a General Convention was held in the 
State of Maryland, for the purpose of remodel- 
ing the Constitution of the Commonwealth. Mr. 
Cresswell was nominated by the Whigs of Cecil 
County to represent them in this Convention. 
His opponent was the late Judge Constable, the 
Democratic candidate, whose popularity in Cecil 
County was so great as to ensure the defeat of 
any one who had the temerity to oppose him 
The Judge was also a man of great eloquence and 
profound ability, and one whom very few cared 
to encounter on the stump. Mr. Cresswell can- 
vassed the county with him, and, though a young 
man, won considerable distinction by the able 
manner in wliich he encountered his veteran an- 
tagonist. When the election came on, he was 
defeated by a small majority. 

After this he confined himself to his profession, 
taking no active part in politics. Upon the de- 



140 The JVew Administration* 

mise of the Whig party he voted with the 
Democracy, and was generally regarded as a 
member of that organization at the breaking out 
the rebellion. Finding, however, that the sym- 
pathies of that party were with the Southern 
States, and its members were in favor of the se- 
cession of Maryland from the Union, he with- 
drew from all connection with them, and declared 
himself a supporter of the Constitution and laws 
of his country. Foreseeing the terrible evils 
which war would bring upon the land, and know- 
ing that in case of hostilities his own State would 
be apt to be the battle-ground, he labored earn- 
estly and actively in behalf of a peaceful settle- 
ment of our national troubles. His efforts were 
in vain, however, and finding that war could not 
be avoided, he declared himself uncompromisingly 
for the Union. 

In the fall of 1861, he was elected to the Mary- 
land Legislature from Cecil County. He ren- 
dered good service in this body in behalf of the 
Union cause, and his conduct received the hearty 
endorsement of his constituents. In 1862, he 
was appointed Adjutant-General of the State, 



The New Administration. 141 

and discharged the duties of that office with vigor 
and ability, exerting himself to the utmost to 
develop the Union sentiment of Maryland, and 
procure and send forward recruits for the nation- 
al army. In the fall of 1862, he was elected to 
the Thirty-eighth Congress from the Cecil Dis- 
trict. 

He entered the House of Representatives a 
comparatively unknown man, and laboring under 
all the disadvantages peculiar to the position of 
a new member. His warmest welcome came from 
his friend, the great Baltimore orator, Winter 
Davis. Between these men a warm and active 
friendship had existed for some years, and when 
the latter was questioned by his friends as to the 
probable success of his colleague, he did not hesi- 
tate to speak of Cresswell as a man destined to 
make a name in the history of the country. 

Mr. Cresswell served during the Thirty-eighth 
Congress on the Committees on Commerce and 
Pensions. He made little or no reputation, how- 
ever, until January, 1865, when the consideration 
of that portion of the President's message refer- 
ring to the abolition of slavery drew him out. 



142 The J^ew Administration, 

Upon this occasion he more than realized the 
predictions of his friend Mr. Davis, and delivered 
one of the most eloquent and powerful speeches 
of the session. In the course of his remarks, he 
related the following interesting incident : 

" You will not wonder," said he, * at my con- 
fidence in the improvement of the negro race when 
I relate an incident which came under my own 
observation. Our struggle for emancipation was 
fierce and closely contested. For a long time the 
result was in doubt. The soldiers' vote finally 
settled it in our favor by a majority of less than 
four hundred ; but the advocates of slavery, un- 
willing, though fairly beaten, to surrender a field 
which they had held so long without dispute, did 
their utmost, after the election, to defeat the voice 
of the people, by a resort to protests, and injunc- 
tions, and writs of mandamus, and every other 
device which the ingenuity of counsel could in- 
vent. The Governor's proclamation, declaring 
the triumph of the friends of freedom, in spite of 
rebel votes and the ' law's delay,' did not reach 
the southern section of the State until Monday, 
the 31st Octotier, when a steamer from Baltimore 



The New Administration, 143 

brought the official document. A Union meeting 
was held that day at Cambridge, in Dorchester 
county, at which it was made known, to the in- 
finite disgust of every faithful follower of Jeff. 
Davis, that the next day would see Maryland a 
free State. I know not how the word passed ; I 
saw no flashing beacon, nor flaming brand, nor 
speeding courier ; but as I traveled in open car- 
riage that night to fill an appointment next day, 
more than fifty miles away, it seemed as if the 
very air had borne the glad tidings before me. 
All Africa was abroad ; some on horseback, some 
in wagon-s, but nearly all on foot, moving along, 
singing and joyful. When, later in the night, I 
was journeying wearily through the sighing pines, 
my curiosity was excited by the fact that ever 
and anon a bright light would suddenly burst 
upon me. Knowing that country people were 
usually at that hour abed, these lights were a 
mystery to me. Turning to my companion, I 
asked an explanation. He replied, ' The lights 
you see are at the meeting-houses of the negroes, 
who have met for the purpose of holding watch- 
meetings to welcome in the 1st of November.' 



144 The New Administration, 

The mystery was explained. The negroes had 
assembled at midnight, in their rude churches, 
hastily built by the roadside, in the woods, or 
down at the marshes, to watch for the advent of 
their day of jubilee, in order that tiiey might re- 
ceive tht3ir earliest experience of Heaven's price- 
less gift to man — thrice-blessed liberty — while' 
on their knees before the Father of all. Surely,, 
a people who will thus dedicate the first moments 
of their freedom to God are worthy to be 
free." 

Says the New York Tribune^ in referring to 
this speech : 

^* Davis had been pi-eparing the way for him by 
assuring his friends tliat Cresswell would yet 
make his mark. When he rose, therefore, he 
soon secured the attention of those about him, — 
an unusual thing for a new member in the House, 
rising in the midst of a debate, to read a wrii.ten 
speech. His fine presence and impressive style 
of reading, however, soon gained him tlie ear of 
the House ; and wlien he came to eulogize the 
Proclamation of Emancipation, and to tell how it 
was received by the poor negroes who at mid- 
night prayer meetings in the cabins of the Eastern 



The J\*ew Administration. 145 

shore, spent the hours snatched from toil in pray- 
ing God to make tliem worthy of the great gift 
bestowed upon them, lie rose to a pitch of genuine 
eloquence that secured undivided attention and 
unbroken silence. He was most warmly con- 
gratulated as he took his seat, and the effort was 
on all hands pronounced one of the most success- 
ful ever made in that Hall by a new member. 
From that day he rapidly rose to a commanding 
position in State and National politics." 

Mr. Cresswell labored hard in behalf of the 
blacks. His friends wished him to serve in the 
Constitutional Convention of the State, but, bciner 
a member of Congress, he declined their request. 
He had the satisfaction of seeing slavery abolished 
in his State diking the Fall of 1864. 

He was a member of the National Republican- 
Convention at Baltimore, which nominated Mr. 
Lincoln for re-election to the Presidency, and 
took an active part in the campaign which fol- 
lowed. He was himself a candidate for re-election 
to Congress, but was defeated by Mr. Hiram 
McCullough. He had nothing to regret in this 
defeat, however. The death of Governor Hicks, 
in the Spring of 1865, created a vacancy in the 



146 The JVeio Administration. 

United States Senate, and in March, of that 
year, Mr. Cresswell was chosen by the Legisla- 
ture to serve during the unexpired term of the 
deceased Senator. 

He entered the Senate in March 1865, and soon 
took a high position in that body. He served on 
several important committees, and was intimately 
connected with the principal legislation of the 
Thirty-ninth Congress. He was selected by 
Congress to pronounce a eulogy upon the lite 
and character of Henry Winter Davis, upon the 
occasion of the death of his friend, a duty which 
he discharged with great credit to himself. He 
was one of the first to take issue with President 
Johnson in the memorable quarrel between the 
Executive and Congress, and to the close of his 
term was one of the most unflinching champions of 
the cause of Congress. He was not reelected to 
the Senate at the close of his term, and retired 
into private life, being regarded, liowever, as the 
leader of his party in Mai7land. 

In 18G6 he was a delegate to the Southern 
Loyalist's Convention, held in Philadelphia, in 
which body he headed the Border State opposi- 



The JVew Administration.] 147 

tion to the demand for negro suffrage. He 
opposed it, not because he was hostile to it, but 
because he did not believe in the expediency of 
going into the political campaign of that year 
with negro suffrage as- an issue. Events justified 
his prudence. At present he is one of the most 
ardent advocates of impartial suffrage. 

In the Spring of 18(38, he was a member of the 
Maryland Delegation to the Chicago Convention, 
and was declared by his associates to be their 
first choice for the Vice-Presidency. Mr. Fulton, 
insisted in the Convention, on placing him in 
nomination ; but when the vote came to be taken, 
Mr. Cresswell declared that he was not a candi- 
date, and did not desire to appear before the Con. 
vention as such. He then stated that his preference 
was for Senator Wade, of Ohio, for whom he cast 
his vote. He engaged actively in the Presidential 
Campaign, but without success, so far as his own 
State was concerned. Maryland was carried by 
the Democrats by a heavy majority, his own dis- 
trict giving a Democratic majority of over eight 
thousand. 

When Col. Forney resigned the Secretaryship 



148 The New Administ/ration. 

of the Senate, Mr. Cress well's friends urged him 
to be a candidate for the position. It was univer- 
sally conceded that his election would be sure, if 
he would accept the office, but he declined it. 

After the result of the last Presidential elec- 
tion was known, General Grant was earnestly 
importuned by many of the leading men of the 
Republican party, to offer Mr. Cresswell a seat in 
his Cabinet. " Vice-President Colfax, ex-Vice- 
President Hamlin, Senator Wade, and a number 
of other leading Senators," says the Baltimore 
American^ " took occasion to speak to General 
Grant in terms of high commendation of his 
ability and personal character and eminent ser- 
vices to the Republican cause. The delegations 
to Congress from Maine, Connecticut, and Michi- 
gan, and a portion of Pennsylvania also took a 
deep interest in his accession to the Cabinet, wliile 
a majority of the Senators and Representatives 
frv)m the Southern States memorialized the Presi- 
dent in favor of his selection as the representative 
of the Southern and Border States. There was 
also a very kindly feeling expressed among the 
Republicans generally in his favor." 



The New Administration, 149 

Mr. Cresswell was doubtless appointed as the 
representative of the Republican party in tlie 
entire South, as he does not in any sense represent 
the political faith of the people of Maryland, 
which State is now Democratic by a large ma- 
jority. He belongs to the extreme Radical wing 
of the Republican party, and is in favor of " re- 
constructing " the State of Maryland by the 
same process that has been applied to the more 
Southern States. He is an ardent partisan and 
is prepared to stand by the political organization 
to which he belongs under any and all circum- 
stances. He is still a young man, and to his 
natural abilities adds a large experience, and a 
vigor and energy, which admirably qualify him 
for his new position. 



150 The JVew Administration. 



EBENEZER R. HOAR, 

Attorney- General, 



Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar was born in Con- 
cord, Massachusetts, in the year 1816. He is the 
son of the late Hon. Samuel Hoar of that town. 

Mr. Hoar, Sr., was regarded as the leading 
lawyer of Middlesex County, and as the peer of 
any of the great men who have practiced at the 
Massachusetts bar. He was not an orator, but 
is said to have possessed an earnestness and 
power of persuasion which rendered him emi- 
nently successful in his profession. He served 
one term in Congress, and about twenty-iive years 
ago was sent by Massachusetts to Charleston, 
S. C, to defend the rights of her colored sailors, 
who were seized by the authorities of South Caro- 
lina, and imprisoned as soon as they came into 
the port of that State " as a means of preventing 
the spread of Abolition doctrines." Mr. Hoar 
was driven out of the city by a mob, and his 



The New Administration, 151 

mission thwarted. He married Sarah Sherman, 
a daughter of Roger Sherman, of Connecticut, 
by whom he had several children. He died in 
1856. 

Young Hoar was carefully educated in the 
best schools of his State, and in 1835 graduated 
at Harvard College. He immediately entered 
upon the study of the law, and passed some time 
in the office of that eminent jurist, Charles Allen, 
of Worcester. He entered into public life at an 
€arly age as a Whig. He was a member of the 
State Senate about 1846; "at any rate at the 
time of the controversy between the ' conscience ' 
and the ' cotton ' whigs, which culminated in the 
free soil bolt of 1848. These old names are 
mentioned because the distinction which they 
imply took its rise in a remark by Mr. Hoar dur- 
ing a speech in the Senate when he was a mem- 
ber. He was with Sumner, and Allen, and S. C- 
Philips, and Wilson and Palfrey in the free soil 
movement, and especially active in the canvass in 
Middlesex between Palfrey and his whig oppon- 
onts, which began with the opposition of the 
former to Mr. Winthrop's election to the Speaker- 



152 The JS'ew Administration, 

ship of the Lower House of Congress in 1848, 
when Charles Allen and Henry Wilson origin- 
ated the free soil bolt by denouncing Taylor's 
nomination in the Philadelphia Convention. Mr. 
Hoar led off in the new movement. He wrote 
the circular which called the State Convention 
in Massachusetts, and which resulted in the for- 
mation of a party of 36,000 voters, who within 
three years broke down Mr. Webster and the 
whig party, elected Charles Sumner to the seat 
lie now holds, and placed Governor Boutwell ia 
the gubernatorial chair. The ground on which 
the opposition was put in this circular was, that 
•General Taylor was not a whig, and that the 
whig party had been substantially disbanded by 
Ms nomination. This was not perhaps creditable 
to the candor of Mr. Hoar and his brethren, but, 
considering the overpowering influence of Mr, 
Webster and the social iind political supremacy 
of whigism in the State, it was as far as they saw 
fit to go." 

Soon after this he was appointed a judge of the 
Court of Common Fleas, but resigned the oftice in a 
short time to lesume the practice of his profession. 



The New Administration, 163 

• 
He opened an ofiBce in Boston, and soon acquired 
a large and lucrative practice. While on the 
bench of the Common Pleas, he distinguished 
himself by a bold and uncompromising decision 
against the constitutionality of the fugitive slave 
law. 

In 1859 he was made a Judge of the Supreme 
Judicial Court of Massachusetts, which position 
he held up to the fourth of the present month 
(March 1869). It was expected when Judge Big- 
low resigned the office of Chief Justice of the 
State, Judge Hoar was to be appointed his suc- 
cessor. Governor Bullock, however, refused to 
nominate him, in consequence, it is said, of a 
quarrel with the Judge's brother, Hon. George 
F. Hoar, of Worcester, the member of Congress 
from the Eighth District. He nominated Judge 
Thomas. The friends of Judge Hoar resented 
this indignity,* and succeeded in defeating the 
Governor's nomination when it came before the 
council for confirmation. The result was a com- 



o Judge Hoar being the senior iudge was entitled by custom 
to the promotion- 



154 The New Administratwti 

promise between the Governor and the friends of 
Judge Hoar, by which Judge Chapman was nom- 
inated and confirmed. 

Judge Hoar's legal abilities are of the first 
order. He stands high in a State that has pro- 
duced many of the most eminent lawyers of the 
land. He lacks eloquence and enthusiasm as an 
orator, but he brings to the aid of his vast pro- 
fessional knowledge a solidity and straightfor- 
wardness of argument which make him a formid- 
-able opponent at the bar. As a judge he has no 
superior. His decisions are irreproachable, and 
his opinions are quoted and received everywhere 
with the profoundest respect. In consideration 
of these qualities it is evident that no better 
selection for the high position to which he has 
been called, could have been made. 

Judge Hoar is in the prime of life, and in the 
full vigor of his intellect. He is fond of social 
life, and possesses the afi'ectionate regard of a 
large and influential circle of friends. He is said 
to be very witty, and to possess a keen relish of 
liumor in others. Says the New York Herald : 

" He is spoken of as a radical, but this remark 



The J^ew Administration. 155 

wrill not applj to him except as an anti-slavery 
man. His ancestry is federal and conservative 
and his tastes and habits, especially of late years^ 
have led him into conservative ways. Upon all 
topics growing out of the war and the extinction 
of slavery he would be likely to be radical, for 
he inherits a hatred of that special form of aris- 
tocracy which Sumner calls ' an oligarchy of the 
Bkin/ and has a contempt for all slaveholding 
pretensions to superior breeding and chivalry 
He would be much more likely to go with Mr* 
Dana than General Butler, and if he has anything 
to do with the distribution of the offices, the 
peculiar friends of the Essex member will not 
be likely to have more than an even chance." 

James Kussell Lowell has thus familiarized him 
to the readers of the Biglow papers, a descrip- 
tion which many who read these pages will doubt- 
less recognize : 

" An' I've ben sense a-visitin' the Jedge, 
Whose garding whispers with the river's edge, 
Where I've sot mornin's lazy as the bream 
Whose on'y business is to head up stream, 
(We call 'em punkin'-seed,) or else in chat, 
Along 'tJ. the Jedge, who covers with his hat 
More wit, an' gumption, an' shrewd Yankee sense 
Than there is mosses on an ole stone fence." 




^r H K 




M^w ^ikmhtiintm; 

.CONTAINING 

COMPLETE AND AUTHENTIC 

BIOGRAPHIES 

OF 

Grant and his Cabinet. 

By EDWARD WINSLOW MARTIN. 





NEW YORK: 
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i860. 




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